In today’s world, Advanced Placement (AP) exams can provide a significant leg up to hopeful high school students as they set their sights on college admissions. Students who do well on the tests, which are given during the first two weeks of May, not only improve their chances with admissions boards, but can actually “test out” of certain college level courses — thereby saving tuition expenses. And who could ask for more in these tough economic times?
The tests are deemed so important that the number of students taking the exams increased by 163 percent between 1999 and 2009.
Now, an online educational service is offering a leg up to students who want that extra leg up in 20 urban school districts across the country. Starting today, Shmoop (a company in which Tonic is an investor) is offering its AP Exam Prep service free of charge to public school students in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, D.C., Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami-Dade County, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and St. Louis.
Students outside of those regions can purchase the online courses in AP English Language, AP English Literature, AP US History and AP US Government for $12.95 per student per course.
“Shmoop is passionate about supporting all students and teachers,” Shmoop CEO Ellen Siminoff (who sits on Tonic’s Board of Creators) said in a press release. “We’re particularly proud to offer these urban school districts our AP Exam Prep courses for free when many of these districts have faced significant budget cuts during these difficult economic times.”
John Niemeyer, District Director for Advanced Placement at St. Louis Public Schools, added, ”Shmoop’s service will help us toward a very important goal — preparing our students for college success.”
Founded in 2008, Shmoop publishes digital resources that make learning fun and relevant for students. Shmoop content is written by master teachers and Ph.D. students from Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley, and other top universities. With more than 2,000 titles across the Web, iPhone, Kindle and Nook, the company was an Official Honoree in the 2009 Webby Awards and named “Best of the Internet” by PC Magazine.