The percentage of Utah high school students demonstrating college-level mastery on the AP test was reported at 19.3%, the third highest in the nation (behind New York and Maryland) and well above the national average of 13.2%.

An ethnic gap in both participation and achievement still exits: we still have a discrepancy between the percentage of minority students enrolled in public schools, and the percentage of minority students taking AP courses. The report indicates a rigorous curriculum is the leading indicator of success in college.

Students from families within the lowest socioeconomic brackets who had taken AP or other similar courses were found to complete college at greater rates than students from wealthy socioeconomic brackets who had not participated in such curricula…

Accordingly, the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s 2003 survey of college admissions officers showed that the most important factor in college admissions is success in the most challenging high school courses available.

Advanced Placement Report to the Nation 2005 [pdf]
Referenced Thu, 29 Sep 2005 11:05 (MDT)

Being published by the organization overseeing the AP program, it is biased toward AP, and does not include successes for comparable rigorous college preparation programs also implemented in some Utah high schools, such as International Baccalaureate.

Posted in Education, Utah Politics