AP CS Report for 2018

Every year I, Barb Ericson, gather and report on the data for AP CS from the College Board which is at http://research.collegeboard.org/programs/ap/data/ 

There was a huge increase in Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles (CSP) exam takers nationally (from 43,780 in 2017 to 70, 864 in 2018 – a 62% increase).  The Computer Science A (CSA) exam also grew (from 56,088 in 2017 to 60,040 in 2018 – a 7% increase).

The detailed data for AP CSP for 2017 and 2018 is at https://www.dropbox.com/s/5gv4pvd5jlt9wyo/AP-CSP-2017-2018-with-pop.xlsx?dl=0

The detailed data for AP CSA from 2006 to 2018 is at https://www.dropbox.com/s/6y2xsydha1851nv/DetailedStateInfoAP-CS-A-2006-2018.xlsx?dl=0

The number of exam takers for all states for AP CSA from 1998 to 2018 is at

  AP CSA is no longer the most male skewed of any of the AP exams as of 2018.  The most male skewed exam is now Physics C: Elec. & Magnet.  However, AP CSA is the 2^nd most male skewed of the AP exams and AP CSP is the 5^th most male skewed after Physics 2 and Physics C: Mechanics.  Thanks to Willa Hua from the University of Michigan for creating the following graph.

The percentage of female exam takers increased slightly for CSA from 23.5% in 2017 to 23.9% in 2018. However, the percentage of female exam takers varies from state to state. For AP CSA, the range was from 0% (no female exam takers) in Mississippi and South Dakota to 37% in Alaska (not pictured below). Five states had 27% female exam takers: West Virginia, California, Arkansas, New-York, and Washington. Thanks to Willa Hua from the University of Michigan for creating the following graph.

The percentage of female exam takers increased slightly for CSP from 30% in 2017 to 31% in 2018. However, the percentage of female exam takers varies from state to state. For AP CSP, the range was from 0% (no females took the exam in Montana) to 40% in New York and 47% in the District of Columbia. Thanks to Willa Hua from the University of Michigan for creating the following graph.

The percentage of students who pass the AP CSP exam nationally is higher than the percentage who pass AP CSA, Biology, Calculus AB, and US History.  As you can see from the table below Black students have the lowest pass rate on all of these exams and Hispanics have the second lowest pass rates.

Pass Rates for AP Exams in 2018 by Racial Groups

AP Exam	All	Asian	White	Hispanic	Black
CSP	71%	82%	78%	54%	40%
CSA	67%	76%	69%	46%	37%
Biology	61%	74%	69%	38%	31%
Calculus AB	57%	68%	62%	39%	32%
US History	52%	66%	60%	33%	27%

The female pass rate for the CSA exam in 2018 was the highest ever at 65%, but this was still a bit lower than the pass rate for males, at 68.2%.  The female pass rate on the CSP exam fell slightly from 70.4% in 2017 to 68.5% in 2018.  The female pass rate at 68.5% in 2018 was slightly lower than the male pass rate, at 72.1%.  The female pass rate is lower than the male pass rate on many AP exams, including Biology, Calculus AB, and US History. The female pass rate is higher than the male pass rate for English Lit. & Comp. and Studio Art – Drawing. Black and Hispanic females had a lower pass rate in 2018 on the AP CSA and AP CSP exam than Black and Hispanic males.

Exam	M	F	Hisp M	Hisp F	Black M	Black F
CSA	68%	65%	48%	37%	39%	32%
CSP	72%	69%	57%	49%	42%	38%
Biology	67%	58%	46%	34%	34%	30%
Calc AB	60%	54%	43%	35%	34%	30%
Eng Lit	47%	48%	28%	28%	19%	21%
Art	82%	91%	75%	84%	71%	82%
US Hist	61%	52%	39%	29%	29%	26%

The Black female pass rate varies quite a bit.  Arkansas had 21 Black female students take the AP CSA exam and only one pass it, which is a pass rate of 4.76%. Connecticut had 4 of 6 Black female students pass the AP CSA exam, which is a pass rate of 66.67%. In 16 states, no Black female student took the AP CSA exam (Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming).  Only 7 states had more than 10 Black female students pass the AP CSA exam (California 13/36, Maryland 15/59, Virginia 16/54, New Jersey 19/48, Georgia 22/56, New York 26/77, and Texas 28/64). 

Only 10 states had more than 10 Hispanic females pass the AP CSA exam (Ohio 12/13, Georgia 13/29, Washington 15/23, Virginia 31/55, Illinois 33/60, New Jersey 34/72, New York 45/153, Florida 71/152, Texas 107/355, and California 146/453). 

All states had students take the AP CSA exam, but the number of exams per 100,000 of population varied from 43 (New Jersey) to 0.2 (South Dakota).  All states had students take the AP CSP exam, but the number of exams per 100,000 of population varied quite a bit from 59 (Maryland) to 1 (Kansas and Montana).

The ten states with the highest number of exams per 100,000 of population:

	AP CSA			AP CSP
1	New Jersey	43	1	Maryland	59
2	Virginia	39	2	Florida	41
3	Maryland	36	3	Connecticut	36
4	Massachusetts	35	4	California	35
5	Wash D.C.	31	5	Rhode Island	34
6	California	30	6	Alabama	33
7	Connecticut	30	7	New Jersey	31
8	Washington	29	8	New York	30
9	Texas	25	9	Georgia	29
10	Illinois	25	10	Massachusetts	28

In four states, no Black students took the AP CSA exam: Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.  In 12 states, in which at least one Black student took the exam, no Black student passed the exam: Hawaii (4) Utah (4), Iowa (3), Maine (2), Alaska (1), Nebraska (1), New Hampshire (1), New Mexico (1), Vermont (1), West Virginia (1), and Wyoming (1). 

The states with the highest number of Black students taking the AP CS exams. 

	AP CSA			AP CSP
1	Texas	228	1	Florida	866
2	Maryland	217	2	New York	758
3	New York	211	3	Maryland	478
4	Georgia	178	4	Georgia	325
5	Virginia	174	5	California	312
6	California	167	6	Texas	254
7	Florida	140	7	Alabama	216
8	New Jersey	133	8	Massachusetts	179
9	North Carolina	97	9	North Carolina	144
10	Massachusetts	84	10	Virginia	139

In three states, no Hispanic students took the AP CSA exam: Wyoming, Mississippi, and South Dakota.  In seven states, in which at least one Hispanic student took the exam, no Hispanic student passed the AP CSA exam: Kansas (4), West Virginia (3), Maine (3), Alaska (1), North Dakota (1), Vermont (1), and Montana (1). 

The states with the highest number of Hispanic students taking the AP CS exams.

	AP CSA			AP CSP
1	California	1740	1	California	4247
2	Texas	1487	2	Florida	2651
3	Florida	734	3	Texas	1526
4	New-York	481	4	New-York	1168
5	New-Jersey	354	5	Illinois	637
6	Illinois	277	6	New-Jersey	396
7	Virginia	240	7	Georgia	334
8	Georgia	165	8	Maryland	281
9	Maryland	150	9	Nevada	248
10	Massachusetts	144	10	Colorado	224