<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college - level curricula and examinations to high school students . American colleges and universities may grant placement and course credit to students who obtain high scores on the examinations . The AP curriculum for each of the various subjects is created for the College Board by a panel of experts and college - level educators in that field of study . For a high school course to have the designation, the course must be audited by the College Board to ascertain that it satisfies the AP curriculum . If the course is approved, the school may use the AP designation and the course will be publicly listed on the AP Course Ledger . </P> <P> After the end of World War II, the Ford Foundation created a fund that supported committees studying education . The program, which was then referred to as the "Kenyon Plan", was founded and pioneered at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, by the then - college president Gordon Chalmers . The first study was conducted by three prep schools--the Lawrenceville School, Phillips Academy and Phillips Exeter Academy--and three universities--Harvard University, Princeton University and Yale University . In 1952 they issued the report General Education in School and College: A Committee Report which recommended allowing high school seniors to study college level material and to take achievement exams that allowed them to attain college credit for this work . The second committee, the Committee on Admission with Advanced Standing, developed and implemented the plan to choose a curriculum . A pilot program was run in 1952 which covered eleven disciplines . In the 1955 - 56 school year, it was nationally implemented in ten subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, History, French, German, Spanish, and Latin . </P> <P> The College Board, a non-profit organization based in New York City, has run the AP program since 1955 . From 1965 to 1989, Harlan Hanson was the director of the Advanced Placement Program . It develops and maintains guidelines for the teaching of higher level courses in various subject areas . In addition, it supports teachers of AP courses and supports universities . These activities are funded through fees required to take the AP exams . </P>

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