College Draws Fire for Proposal to Limit AP Credits

Author: Deborah Jones

I was quite disappointed to read in last week's Campus that the College is considering eliminating credit for Advanced Placement (AP) courses taken during students' high school careers ("College May Discontinue AP," The Middlebury Campus, April 9, 2003). As a graduate of a large Chicago area high school with an extensive AP program, I entered Middlebury with more than a few credits.
However, I did not use them to enroll in classes that I wasn't qualified for or to fast track my majors. Rather, the credits have allowed me to take courses in subjects that interested me that I otherwise would not have had the opportunity to study. To me, the AP program enhanced, not diminished, my liberal arts education.
Recently, I came to appreciate my AP work for another reason: the chance to graduate "on time" despite having to withdraw from the College for a semester for medical reasons. Since I'm a rising senior, it is wonderful to know that by activating my credits, I can complete my two majors without the added pressure of taking additional classes at Middlebury or attempting to transfer courses from another institution. (Anyone who has investigated transferring credits from another school to the College surely knows that doing so is easier said than done.)
During my time at Middlebury, I have known multiple students who have been forced to drop a class mid-semester or temporarily withdraw from school because of medical problems, personal issues, financial difficulties or family emergencies. AP credits can provide much needed flexibility for students who are already in a difficult position.
I can understand the Educational Affairs Committee's concern that students are increasingly likely to enter the College with a year's worth of credits. I can understand that the College is uncertain as to whether the work completed was "Middlebury caliber." However, I don't feel that eliminating AP, International Baccalaureate (IB) or British A-Levels credit is the answer. There should be a limit to the number of courses accepted by the school from any of these programs. (The same standard should apply to all courses not taken at an undergraduate institution.)
My recommendations: 1) limit the number of credits that may be received through AP programs to five, which would be the equivalent of one semester and one Winter-term; 2) increase the number of AP courses for which only scores of 5 are accepted; 3) make awarding of credit AP scores of 4 contingent upon successful completion of a more advanced class in the area of study.
Similar standards should apply when considering credit from the international certificate programs. Such a compromise would allow the College to address its concerns without depleting flexibility. The chance for students to opt out of a distribution requirement and take a course that truly excites them or to take advantage of stored credits while in a difficult medical, financial or personal situation would be preserved. Should the College choose to abolish AP, IB and A-Level credit all together, the process for obtaining transfer credit must be streamlined.
As for the Admissions Office's contention that the elimination of AP credit would help raise the College's reputation, one would hope that Middlebury's first priority would be in addressing the interests of its students, and not in scheming to increase its rankings in U.S. News & World Report.

Deborah Jones is an International Politcs and Economics and Russian double major from Lincolnshire, Illinois.