The U.S. Department of Education today announced $11 million in 22 new grants for promising activities in grades 6-12 to increase the number of low-income students who are ready to succeed in advanced courses.

The awards are being made to national non-profit organizations, states, school districts and charter schools through the department's Advanced Placement Incentives program and is a component of the landmark No Child Left Behind Act.

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige noted that with the rapidly changing world, "Our high schools must keep up with those changes so that we prepare students to compete in a new and complex world."

"At the high school level," Paige said, "nothing exemplifies this need better than programs like advanced placement. And in recent years, our nation has made great progress in making sure our low-income students have access to these kinds of classes and assessments. In just the past four years, the number of AP tests taken by low-income students has risen 64 percent.

"We should take great pride in that progress. But access is not enough. Now we need to make sure that more of our students are prepared to succeed in these rigorous courses."

The Advanced Placement Incentives program is housed within the Department's Office of Innovation and Improvement.

Following is a list of the grant recipients.

Fiscal Year 2003 Advanced Placement Incentive (API) Funding Chart

* Charter Schools

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