The impact of state-mandated Advanced Placement programs on student outcomes

This paper examines the effect of a state mandate to offer Advanced Placement (AP) programs at all public high schools on student outcomes. Requiring compliance with this policy could lead to unintended consequences as schools shift resources or students are re-sorted. Using a difference-in-differences estimation strategy, I investigate a 2004 state-wide mandate to offer AP programs in Arkansas and its impact on students' schooling outcomes. Results suggest schools decrease the share of courses dedicated to career and technical education in favor of AP courses. Additionally, enrollment decreases by about 60 students on average, the 4-year graduation rate increases by 2.5 percentage points, and there are generally fewer students scoring in the highest category on two end-of-course exams at schools required to comply with the mandate. Taken together, these results suggest the policy may have at least partially affected the sorting of students across schools.