The College Board developed Advanced Placement (AP) programmes and exams (who also run the university entrance SAT exam). AP classes are substantially more challenging than the standard course options (even those labelled "honours") at American high schools, and are also required to supplement regular US high school diplomas if applying to a US university.

Advanced Placement simply indicates that AP classes are more advanced than regular high school courses and are designed to prepare students for college (meaning comparable to core courses in the first two years of university).

All AP tests are for specific disciplines, with a 5 being the maximum possible result. Many colleges/universities will grant credit for that topic if a student receives a 3 or above on an AP exam (although in some cases, only a 5 is acceptable). First-tier colleges and universities, on the other hand, have their own set of standards.

Taking AP classes has a number of benefits:

• They can be transferred between schools (for example, a student taking an AP World History course in one school or nation in the fall can transfer to another school and continue with the same course in the winter if the new school offers it).
• They provide students with rigorous course work and demonstrate to university admissions departments that the student is studying the most difficult classes available.
• If the student's university is willing to give credit for courses taken, it can result in significant tuition savings (for example, a student could take ten or fifteen AP courses in high school and end up with a couple or three terms of university core studies under his belt if some or all of the AP courses are similar enough to courses offered by the university).
• Because of the standardisation, colleges and universities can understand exactly what a student's transcript implies, especially if it includes AP and/or IB Diploma courses.