Harvard raises the bar for advanced placement and standing

Harvard University just raised the bar for students wishing to graduate from college in less than four years.

The University has decided to only accept perfect scores of five on the Advanced Placement exams administered by the College Board. Currently, students who score four scores of either four or fives qualify to receive some sort of advanced standing.

Under those standards, about half the entering freshmen class is eligible for advanced standing, said Marlyn McGrath-Lewis, an admissions director at Harvard.

If the new requirements had been used for the Class of 2005, only 30 percent of those students would have been eligible.

The new standards at Harvard will take effect with the Class of 2007.

Princeton administrators said the University probably would not follow Harvard's lead because it requires different criteria for advanced standing, said associate dean of the college Carol Porter.

At the University, each department sets its own standard for what scores are allowed for credit. Students who have four advanced placement units in at least two subject areas are eligible to graduate in three-and-a-half years. Students, who have eight advanced placement units in at least three subject areas, are eligible to apply to graduate in three years.

About 30 percent of every class is eligible for advanced standing — a much smaller percentage than at Harvard, Porter said.

Although she doubts changes to the policy will be made, she noted that handling AP scores is a frequently discussed issue in higher education.

"A lot of institutions have increasing challenges with AP tests," Porter said.

Colleges are facing an increase of students taking multiple AP exams and qualifying for advanced standing.

However, the University's policy makes it difficult for a student to receive advanced standing, Porter said.

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In addition to that, most students lose interest in advanced standing because of the difficulty involved in writing junior papers and the senior thesis a year or semester early. "[Advanced standing] becomes less appealing with time," Porter said.

In the Class of 2002, 415 students were eligible for advanced standing. Of that number, six took a semester off, and nine graduated in three years.

Harvard faculty and administrators met this summer to research advanced standing and discuss changes to the policy, McGrath-Lewis said.

"They did an empirical study" to see how students who received fours on AP exams did in classes above introductory level, she said. "The scores did not correlate with what corresponded with good preparation."

People who had received fives on the exams were performing better in those classes.

McGrath-Lewis said the more rigorous standard will be more respectable.

The change, shows "what a Harvard degree is worth," she said.