AP Exam Fee Reductions

College Board provides a $37 fee reduction per AP Exam for eligible students with financial need. Schools are expected to forgo their $9 rebate for these students, resulting in a cost of $53 per exam (for international: $83 per exam; for AP Seminar or AP Research Exams: $101).

By April 30, 2025 (11:59 p.m. ET) AP coordinators need to indicate through AP Registration and Ordering each student who is eligible for a fee reduction.

Many states also use federal and state funding to further reduce the exam fee for students who are eligible for the College Board fee reduction. Information about state fee assistance, including fee reduction information for schools outside the U.S., will be posted on the Federal and State Assistance page as soon as each state’s funding plan is finalized.

Fee Reduction Eligibility Criteria

College Board has different eligibility criteria for AP Exam fee reductions, depending on whether a school or district participates in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a program that enables high-poverty U.S. schools and districts to offer breakfast and lunch at no charge to all students.

Schools and districts that meet the criteria and choose to participate in CEP can’t use a student’s enrollment in CEP to determine eligibility for AP Exam fee reductions, because all students in these schools or districts, regardless of family income, are automatically eligible for free meals. Accordingly, CEP schools and districts must determine each student’s eligibility for AP Exam fee reductions.

The AP coordinator must determine eligibility using the criteria below.

Primary Criteria for Schools/Districts Not Participating in Community Eligibility

Schools and districts that don’t participate in the CEP can still use enrollment or eligibility to participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) as a proxy to determine eligibility for AP Exam fee reductions. For these schools/districts, use the following primary criteria:

Students who are either enrolled in or eligible to participate in the NSLP qualify for the AP Exam fee reduction on all AP Exams that they take in a given year. Students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals if:

• their family’s annual income falls within the Income Eligibility Guidelines set by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service, or
• the students are categorically eligible to be directly certified without application for free school meals because they are:
  • in households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), or in some states, Medicaid benefits, or
  • unhoused, migrant, runaway, or in foster care, or
  • enrolled in a federally funded Head Start Program

  Primary Criteria for Schools/Districts Participating in Community Eligibility

  Students are eligible for the AP Exam fee reduction on all AP Exams they take in a given year if:

  • their family’s annual income falls within the Income Eligibility Guidelines set by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service, or
  • they qualify as an “identified student” because they are:
    • in households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), or in some states, Medicaid benefits, or
    • unhoused, migrant, runaway, or in foster care, or
    • enrolled in a federally funded Head Start Program

    Alternative Criteria for All Schools/Districts

    If your school prefers to use another method for determining which students qualify for AP Exam fee reductions, any of the following criteria are allowed:

    • The student is enrolled in a federal, state, or local program that aids students from low-income families (e.g., Federal TRIO programs such as Upward Bound).
    • The student’s family receives public assistance.
    • The student resides in federally subsidized public housing or a foster home or is unhoused.
    • The student is a ward of the state or an orphan.

    USDA Food and Nutrition Service Income Eligibility Guidelines for 2024-25

    The following table lists annual family income, by family size, at 185% of the poverty level. If the student’s annual family income falls within the amount listed in the relevant row and column, that student qualifies for an AP Exam fee reduction.

    Size of Family Unit	Annual Family Income* for 48 Contiguous States, Washington, D.C., Guam, and U.S. Territories	Annual Family Income* for Alaska	Annual Family Income* for Hawaii
    1	$27,861	$34,799	$32,204
    2	$37,814	$47,249	$43,475
    3	$47,767	$59,700	$54,927
    4	$57,720	$72,150	$66,378
    5	$67,673	$84,601	$77,830
    6	$77,626	$97,051	$89,281
    7	$87,579	$109,502	$100,733
    8	$97,532	$121,952	$112,184
    For each additional family member, add:	$9,953	$12,451	$11,452
    * The figures shown under annual family income represent amounts equal to 185% of the 2024 federal income poverty guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These levels were published by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service in the Federal Register, Vol. 89, No. 40, 2/28/24, pp. 14625-14626 These Income Eligibility Guidelines are effective from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.

    Schools Outside the U.S.

    College Board will provide a fee reduction of $37 per AP Exam, including AP Seminar and AP Research Exams, for qualifying low-income students in schools outside the U.S.

    Student eligibility for fee reductions is determined by the AP coordinator. College Board may audit fee reduction claims. AP coordinators should be able to produce documentation verifying fee reduction claims.

    The fee reduction is available for any student whose annual family income falls within the Income Eligibility Guidelines set by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service. To determine if your students meet these guidelines, refer to the “Annual Family Income for 48 Contiguous States, Washington, D.C., Guam, and U.S. Territories” column in the table above, and convert American dollars into your country’s currency.

    How to Indicate Fee Reduction Status

    To indicate students who are eligible for a fee reduction in AP Registration and Ordering, check a box for each eligible student in the student roster. You’ll need to do this even for students who have taken AP Exams in the past and have been marked as eligible for fee reductions. Their fee reduction status doesn’t carry over in AP Registration and Ordering from year to year.

    If a student isn’t eligible for a fee reduction, you don’t need to take any action.

    Include all students who intend to take AP Exams this year in your school’s exam order by the November 15 final ordering deadline even if you haven’t yet confirmed students eligible for the fee reduction. A best practice is to indicate the fee reduction status for each student by the time you submit your exam order if possible, to ensure you have time to plan for and collect appropriate exam fees from students. However, if you need more time to verify this information, you can update students’ fee reduction status through AP Registration and Ordering after submitting your exam order, but no later than April 30, 2025 (11:59 p.m. ET).

    For more information about indicating fee reduction status in AP Registration and Ordering, please see the AP Coordinator’s Manual, Part 1.