Validity
Is AP® Exam Participation and Performance
Related to Choice of College Major?1
By Krista D. Mattern, Emily J. Shaw, and Maureen Ewing
College Board Research & Development
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Introduction
The renewed focus on fostering students’ interest in
particular careers, especially in the science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, motivates a
discussion of when and how to best support students in
this process. Helping students to make sound and timely
college major choices has been shown to increase their
likelihood of graduating in that major field and ultimately
succeeding in a related career path. To provide additional
clarity to key decision-makers, further research on college
major choice and behavior was particularly needed. To this
end, Mattern, Shaw, and Ewing (2011) determined that the
AP® Program may provide a solution because prior research
found a positive relationship between AP participation and
performance and various college outcomes, such as:
• first-year grade point average;
• grade earned in subsequent course;
• graduation; and
are students who earn higher AP Exam scores in a particular
content area more likely to major in that area in college?
Data and Methodology
Data used for this study were based on 39 four-year colleges
and universities that submitted to the College Board secondyear college grades and retention data for the entering class
of fall 2006, along with the students’ majors at the beginning
of their third year of college. Data from these colleges and
universities were merged with College Board data, including
SAT scores, student responses to the SAT Questionnaire,
as well as student performance on AP Exams. The resulting
sample size was 39,440 students enrolled in 15 broad major
fields. Females made up 53 percent of the sample. As for the
ethnic breakdown, 72 percent of the students were white, 9
percent were Asian, 7 percent were Hispanic, 5 percent were
African American/black, 1 percent were American Indian, 3
percent indicated “Other,” and 4 percent did not respond.
• retention to the second year of college.
Results and Conclusions
About the Research
Mattern, Shaw, and Ewing (2011) examined the relationship
among AP Exam participation and performance and college
major. Specifically, they investigated whether students who
took an AP Exam in a certain content area were more likely
to major in that content area than students who had not
taken an AP Exam in that content area, taking into account
relevant student characteristics (i.e., gender, ethnicity,
parental education, high school grade point average
(HSGPA), and SAT® scores). Additionally, unlike previous
research, this study examined the relationship between
AP performance (exam score) as well as participation with
the likelihood of majoring in that area. In other words, are
students who take more AP Exams in a particular content
area more likely to major in that area in college? Moreover,
collegeboard.org/research
As was found in previous AP research, students who took
an AP Exam in a particular content area were more likely to
major in a related discipline in college, even when taking into
account relevant student characteristics. Furthermore, of
the subsample of students who took at least one AP Exam
in a particular content area, those with higher scores had an
increased likelihood of majoring in that content area. These
results provide support for the AP Program as a medium by
which to expose students to advanced academic material
in various content areas, potentially confirming or sparking
interest in particular career paths. Moreover, AP courses can
provide opportunities for students to be academically successful in a particular subject area, thereby fostering beliefs
in their own competence in that area, which in turn have
been shown to promote sustained interest in related careers.
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Series Editor: F. Tony Di Giacomo
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The relationship between AP participation and college major
was stronger for some subject areas than others. In particular, students who took an AP Computer Science exam as well
as students who took a math and/or physical science exam
were much more likely to major in a similar subject area,
whereas a smaller effect was found for the humanities/social
sciences results. The base rate of computer science majors
was extremely low for the entire sample (2 percent); however, 27 percent of students who took both computer science
exams majored in that content area. Likewise, 16 percent
of the sample majored in a STEM-related field, compared
to 65 percent of students who took 5 or more AP Exams in
mathematics and/or physical sciences. For more results, refer
to Figure 1 for the percentage of students who majored in a
specific content area by the number of AP Exams they took
in that content area.
Also noteworthy were the results for students with undeclared majors. Similar to the finding that AP participation
and performance in a particular content area was related
to majoring in that area, students who did not take any
AP Exams were more likely to be undeclared by the
beginning of their third year of college. It is possible that
the lack of exposure to a variety of advanced academic
material has left some students undecided about their
future because they have yet to take coursework that has
sparked their interests. Based on their SAT scores and
HSGPA, undeclared students seem to have the ability to
perform better in college than they have demonstrated,
but simply may need assistance with identifying their
academic interests and enrolling in courses that align
with those interests. Exposure to different content areas
through the AP Program could potentially serve this need.
Or, perhaps taking no AP courses and having an undeclared major signal a lack of academic commitment or
motivation on the student’s part. Either way, interventions
and resources should be directed at these students to
help increase the likelihood of their college success.
Figure 1.
The percentage of students majoring in a specific content area by the number of AP Exams taken in that content area.
The Percentage of Students Majoring in a Specific Domain by the Number of AP Exams taken in that Domain
70
64
65
60
49
Percentage
50
40
33
30
20
20
10
0
27
26
6
20
17
2
Biological Sciences
26
1
Computer Science
5
11
8
Foreign Languages
13
15 16 16
25
21
21
13
9
Humanities
Math/ Physical Sciences
17
19
Social Sciences
College Major
0 exams 1 exam 2 exams 3 exams 4 exams 5 exams 6 or more exams
1. K. D. Mattern, E.J. Shaw, and M. Ewing, Is AP Exam Participation and
Performance Related to Choice of College Major? (College Board Research
Report No. 2011-4) (New York: The College Board, 2011).
Click here for the full report:
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/cb/RR2011-6.
12b-6161
collegeboard.org/research
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© 2011 The College Board.
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