The 2025 State of Advanced Course Access
The gap between student ambition and educational opportunity isn't about motivation—it's about systems that weren't designed for equity.
This research-backed series exposes the access mismatch in advanced coursework and delivers the practical blueprint educational leaders need to transform aspiration into achievement.
Book 1
The Access Mismatch
A nation of aspiring students and a major “catch 22”
While most high school students aspire to attend college, many capable students aren't getting access to advanced coursework like AP, IB, and Dual Enrollment that builds college readiness.
This ebook uses insights from nearly 275,000 students to help educational leaders identify hidden gaps and implement proven strategies to ensure all students have opportunities for high-level learning that opens doors to college and career success.
What you'll learn:
- Understand the ambition-access mismatch.
- Who's in the advanced course seats.
- Barriers that block the path.
- What staff needs to help boost access.
- How policy, practice and partnerships can assist.
Highlights from the data:
Advanced courses deliver powerful benefits, but they currently land unevenly for students based on their backgrounds.
Who's in the seats
59% of Asian students and 46% of White students are enrolled in advanced courses, compared to just 30% of Black/African American students and 29% of Hispanic/Latinx students.
Plus access based on Income
Students from lower-income backgrounds are 19% less likely to be in advanced courses than their middle- and upper-income peers.
Book 2
A Blueprint for Expanding Access
Turning insight into action
This second ebook shifts from identifying the advanced course access problem to providing actionable solutions, offering district leaders, educators, and policymakers proven strategies to close access gaps and align student ambitions with opportunities.
The research-backed practices featured aren't abstract—they're being actively tested and implemented by districts working to ensure more students have access to AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, and Cambridge AICE courses that open doors to college and career success.
What you'll learn:
- How to design systems for readiness.
- Why early support trumps sorting systems.
- How to help adults be gate openers not gatekeepers.
- The critical role of belonging.
- How educators can sustain change.
Here are 3 transformations we uncover to ensure equity in advanced coursework access becomes systemic rather than episodic:
Policy Shifts
Districts and states are adopting bold policy changes including opt-out enrollment models, eliminating unnecessary prerequisites, and removing cost barriers to advanced coursework.
Practice Shifts
Schools are redesigning daily operations by using student-level data to drive course invitations, restructuring schedules to avoid conflicts, and launching inclusive multilingual outreach campaigns.
Partnerships
Districts are building ecosystem partnerships with organizations that provide tools and advisory support, quality and equity through NACEP, and mentoring and financial supports from higher education and community partners.