EPC proposal to restrict AP credits sparks debate

Citing a growing trend in academia, a Tufts committee is questioning whether Advanced Placement (AP) credits are valid substitutes for college courses.

Specifically, the committee suggested that the university limit the use of AP and International Baccalaureate credits to fulfill distribution requirements and cap at five the number of pre-matriculation credits that incoming students can use.

This proposal, which came out of the Educational Policy Committee (EPC), has sparked a debate among Tufts Community Union (TCU) senators, with some calling it arbitrary and taking issue with the administration's desire to elevate the status of on-campus classes.

The faculty will vote on the changes during a Feb. 25 meeting, and they could potentially go into effect as early as the next academic year.

Currently, Tufts accepts certain scores from a number of AP exams as a substitute for on-campus courses, and they can be used as a way for students to skip lower-level classes.

Apart from concerns over the rigor of AP courses, members of the EPC, which is comprised of faculty members, administrators, undergraduates and graduate students, have also raised concerns about access to classes, since they are primarily offered in more affluent areas.

"[The] university's present policies on advanced placement contribute to an uneven playing field for students from less privileged backgrounds," the proposal reads.

The recommended changes aim to realign Tufts with its peer schools, many of which have begun reining in the number of pre-matriculation credits students can use, according to the EPC and Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser. The EPC also hopes to curb a growing trend; the number of AP credits granted has increased over 30 percent since 2003, according to the proposal.

The EPC's new policy would permit pre-matriculation credits to be used to fulfill only one of the two courses for each distribution requirement. For instance, currently, a student who receives a five on an AP Calculus BC exam can use it to fulfill both mathematics distribution requirements. Under the purposed changes, the test would only exempt the student from one class.

"[S]ome students fulfill large swaths of their distribution requirements with pre-matriculation credits," the proposal reads. "This runs counter to the purpose of our distribution requirement that students take courses across our curriculum."

Response to the EPC's proposal has been mixed, especially within the TCU Senate. Many senators have expressed concern about the implications of this policy change on current and future students.

"Students are serious about taking the courses they want and making the educational choices best for them, and I think that by marginalizing AP scores, the administration is going the opposite way," said junior Brandon Rattiner, co-chair of the Senate's Education Committee and a member of the EPC.

"The price of an AP test is a lot cheaper than the price of a college course," he continued. "If you take enough AP courses, you can really spend your money at Tufts wisely and spend it on stuff you're interested in."

Senator Edward Chao, a sophomore, questioned the proposed cap of five pre-matriculation credits. "What's to say that your sixth AP course doesn't meet the academic standards of your fifth one?" he said, calling the EPC's limit of five credits "sort of arbitrary."

Chao cosponsored a Senate resolution that exemplified senators' concerns with the new policy. The resolution passed on Sunday, and Chao was among the senators who attended Wednesday's faculty meeting to present it.

The resolution highlights the economic impacts of the proposal and strongly advises the faculty to vote against the five-credit cap. It also points out that to fulfill distribution requirements, students would have to take classes that they should have been allowed to bypass.

"It would actually put a strain on intro courses like Math for Social Change," Chao said.

The resolution did not pass unanimously, though, and some senators feel that the EPC's proposed changes will increase the rigor of a Tufts education.

"From the point of view of the faculty, it makes sense." Manuel Guzman, a freshman senator and EPC member, said. "They're trying to add value to the Tufts diploma."

"I still stand on the fact that you're at Tufts, you're here to stay for the full four years. That's what makes a Tufts education so great," he added, referring to the fact that the new policy would prevent many students from graduating early.

Still, Rattiner hopes that the Senate resolution will sway faculty opinion enough for them to vote against the EPC's proposal. "I would hope that the faculty would have enough respect for the Senate and the student body at large to consider how their decision affects us," he said.