Bay State Students Score Record High In AP Exams, Gov. Healey Touts Top Ranking

The Bay State had a national record number of students taking and passing advanced placement classes in the country last year, in what Gov. Maura Healey said was an indication that Massachusetts high school students were the "best prepared for success" upon graduation as those in any state in the country.

Healey said there were increases across the board in the number of students taking and passing the exams — which allow for students to earn college course credit while still in high school — including a 7.5 percent increase in Black students passing the exams and an 8 percent increase in Latino students passing them.

"There are gaps," she allowed during a news conference announcing the feat on Tuesday. "We're working every day to close those gaps, those racial disparities, and to give students the foundation that they need."

She cited the state subsidizing of 50,000 low-income students taking 91,000 exams last year as one reason for the increase.

"Our target is getting 100,000 students into early college," she said. "That's a goal that I want to meet. I want to meet it and exceed it very quickly."

State Education Commissioner Pedro Martinez said at the news conference that 48 percent of students in the Class of 2025 took an AP class in high school and that AP classes were offered in 86 percent of public high schools statewide.

"What we're talking about is not only students graduating from Massachusetts high schools being prepared — but being ahead," Martinez said.

While many local officials have criticized the state school funding mechanism for not keeping up with state aid increases with rates of inflation — requiring cities and towns to consider tax-override votes — Healey said targeted subsidies have shown benefits.

Along with the AP exam subsidies, she said the state is on the path to offer universal pre-K to all gateway cities across the state.

She also lauded the recently announced statewide high school graduation standards that she called "the most rigorous and the most complete and useful" in America.

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The new graduation standards are set to replace the MCAS test high school graduation requirement that voters rejected in 2024.

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Critics of the new standard said it is just a version of the overturned MCAS requirement, with standardized tests and metrics replacing the individualized teaching that students need to thrive.