Everything AP Coordinators need to know about the 2019-2020 AP exam registration and fee collection changes

Starting in the 2019-2020 school year, the College Board will be moving the AP exam registration deadline from the spring to November 15^th and introducing new AP administration processes. Compared to previous years, AP Coordinators will need to learn a new checklist, have less time to register students, and collect new fees. The full details are covered in the 128-page  AP Coordinator’s Manual, but we have compiled all the major changes to note and some best practices to help you manage AP registration and payments with ease.

Here are the 3 major changes to AP exam registration and fee collection that you need to know about:

1)     New AP Exam Deadlines

November 15 – Registration Deadline

• The new deadline for submitting exam orders is November 15, 2019, 11:59 EST. The deadline applies to all students in the U.S, Canada, and international schools. Although College Board prefers school to submit their exam registration before October 4.

January 17 – Accommodation Requests Deadline

• Traditionally in February, the deadline to submit applications of documented disabilities has been moved forward a month. Don’t wait to register until accommodations are approved because late registration fees will still apply.

March 13 – Last Day to Register

• This is the last possible date students can decide to take the 2020 AP exams, applicable late fees will apply.

April 30 – Student Fee Reduction Status

• AP Coordinators need to change the fee reduction status in AP Registration and Ordering for each student eligible for a fee reduction by this date.

2)     AP Exam Fee Changes

The College Board introduced two new fees for the 2019-2020 AP Exams, the late order and unused exam fees. AP price, fee reductions, school rebates, and late-testing fees remain unchanged from the previous school year.

New Fees:

Note that fee reduction eligible students can only have their $94 base exam fee reduced. Cancelled and late fees do not apply for fee reduction and the fee cost is the same for all students.

There are exemptions to the new fees:

• Semester basis courses that start after the November 15 deadline have their registration deadlines delayed to March 13
• Students transferring in or out of school are exempt from late and cancelled fees. However, fees still apply for students that stay in the same school but drops or joins classes after the Nov 15 deadline.
• Since accommodation approvals now occur after the registration deadline, students with their accommodation status denied will not need to pay a fee if they decide to not take the exam.
• States funding plans are typically finalized at the beginning of the year after the registration deadline. That means many students are unable to know the true costs of their AP exams before registering. For low-income students where AP exam state subsidies are eliminated for the 2019- 2020 year, the used/cancelled exam fee is waived.

3)     New Registration and Ordering Processes

The College Board has introduced improved exam ordering and administration features on AP Registration and Ordering.

• An access code for AP Registration and Ordering is needed to complete setup at the start of the year.
• The new AP Registration and Ordering system allowa coordinators to access students rosters, review, adjust, and submit orders
• You can indicate the fee reduction status on the AP Registration and Ordering portal, replacing the bubbling in of fee reduction status on student answer sheets.
• For invoicing, schools no longer need to generate the final invoice themselves. Invoices will be automatically generated and can be found on the AP Registration and Ordering portal. The payment date remains June 15.

Best Practices:

All the changes have forced schools to change when and how they collect AP exam fees. Based on the situation of each school there are 3 common ways schools collect fees.

1. Collect in the Fall: Get students to provide payment before the registration deadline. This reduces cancelled exams and simplifies the registration and payment process into one step.
2. Deposit Collected in the Fall– Deposits are collected during the back-to-school orientation period. The total cost of AP exams are paid in the winter after state grants are finalized in winter and the total cost of exam fees can be calculated.
3. Exam Fees collected in the Spring – Because state grants are finalized in December and based on the number of students, fees are collected in the Spring when the total payable amount is known.

All the new changes mean more tasks and less time for AP Coordinators. A fee management system like RYCOR can help schools collect fees and online, notify parents of new fee deadlines, automate fee reductions and late fee assessments, and reconcile rosters. Click here to watch how RYCOR’s advanced features can help your schools.