Examining the Impact of State Level Merit-Aid Policies on Advanced Placement Participation

This study examines the impact of merit-aid programs on secondary course taking patterns. Specifically, this study uses difference-in-differences to analyze state-level AdvancedPlacement (AP) participation and examination data pre and post merit-aid adoption. Results indicate increases in AP participation and number of total examinations after the adoption for merit-aid program who initial eligibility requirements are solely high school performance rather than a combined initial eligibility of high school GPA and standardized test performance. Findings illustrate the potential rationality of student decisions as they take high school courses that not only maximize their admittance into college, but also increase probability of achieving the necessary GPA to receive the merit-aid scholarship.