College Preparation: PSEO, AP and IB
Minnesota high school students have opportunities to prepare for college by challenging themselves with college-level courses in high school. Students may:
- Enroll in the College Board's Advanced Placement courses either at their local high school or online.
- Enroll in classes at local colleges through the Minnesota Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program.
- Enroll in "college in the schools" or other concurrent enrollment classes at their high school. These classes are part of the PSEO alternative to attending a college.
- Enroll in the International Baccalaureate curriculum at participating high schools.
During the 2007-08 school year, 55,174 high school juniors and seniors participated in the following activities:
| Program | Number of juniors and seniors participating |
|---|---|
| Postsecondary Enrollment Options* | 27,966 |
| Advanced Placement** | 25,988 |
| International Baccalaureate | 1,220 |
| Total*** | 55,174 |
* Includes 7,502 students who enrolled on college campuses, plus 20,464 who took college-level courses in their high schools.
**Students who took Advanced Placement exams. Students may take AP courses but are not required to take the AP exam.
*** Total is not unduplicated. Some students may be participating in more than one option.
Approximately 20 percent of Minnesota high school seniors earn college credits by the time they graduate from high school according to a report on the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Program prepared by the Office of Internal Auditing at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.
Eight percent, or 2,592 students who graduated from a Minnesota high school during 2006-07 and enrolled in a Minnesota postsecondary institution in fall 2007, had earned enough college credits through one or more of the above activities to have a college class standing of sophomore or higher upon admission.
For more information on high school student participation in college prep activities, see the following:
College Entrance Exams: ACT and SAT
Most high school students who intend to enroll in a four-year college need to take a college entrance exam. About 70 percent of Minnesota high school seniors take the ACT or SAT college entrance test. Scores on these tests are an indicator of the college readiness of Minnesota's college-bound high school graduates.
More information on high school student college entrance exam scores:
College Participation Rates of Minnesota High School Graduates
College participation rates are defined as the number of high school graduates who enroll in a post-secondary education institution the fall after high school graduation. Minnesota's participation rate provides a glimpse of student behavior in the months following high school graduation.
More information on college-going rates of high school graduates:
College Remediation
Remediation data are available for Minnesota high school graduates who attend public postsecondary institutions. These data are in a report prepared jointly by the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Thirty-eight percent of 2005 Minnesota public high school graduates who attended a Minnesota public postsecondary institution within two years of high school graduation took one or more developmental course. Data are not available for students attending private institutions.
More information on college remediation:
About the High School Class of 2008
College readiness and participation data on the high school graduating class of 2008
| High School Graduates | Minnesota | Nation |
|---|---|---|
| Number of graduates | 65,220 | 3,346,000 |
| ACT Tests | Minnesota | Nation |
| Number and percent of ACT test-takers for this class | 44,863 69% | 1,421,941 42% |
| Mean ACT scores for this class: | ||
| English | 21.9 | 20.6 |
| Reading | 23.0 | 21.1 |
| Mathematics | 22.6 | 21.0 |
| Science | 22.5 | 20.8 |
| Composite | 22.6 | 21.1 |
| Advanced Placement Exams* | Minnesota | Nation |
| Number and percent of exam-takers for this class | 27,605 42% | 1,580,821 47% |
| Number of exams taken (students can take more than one exam) | 44,821 | 2,736,445 |
| Number and percent of AP exams with scores of 3 or higher (the minimum necessary to receive college credit) | 28,138 63% | 1,581,302 58% |
| College Participation | Minnesota | Nation |
| Number and percent enrolled in Minnesota** | 32,642 51% | |
| Number and percent enrolled out of state | 12,760 19% | |
| Number and percent enrolled anywhere | 45,776 67% | 70% |
| Number and percent of Minnesota high school graduates who enrolled in a Minnesota postsecondary institution in fall 2008: | ||
| University of Minnesota | 5,636 17% | |
| State University | 6,603 20% | |
| Community or Technical College | 12,995 40% | |
| Private College | 6,105 19% | |
| Private Career School | 1,303 4% | |
| Total enrolled in Minnesota** | 32,642 100% |
*While AP tests may be taken by high school students who are other than seniors; test-takers percentages will be benchmarked against the graduating class.
**This percentage is adjusted for missing data. The total percentages at the various types of postsecondary institutions will not add up to the state total due to missing data.
Data are displayed for the class of 2008 since this is the most complete data available from all the various data sources. More recent data on ACT and Advanced Placement test-takers may be found in their topic specific sections.
Source: ACT, College Board, Minnesota Department of Education, Minnesota Office of Higher Education
