High school students might not have to suffer through another unfortunate part-time job at their local sandwich shop for some extra pocket change.
For New York City students, Advanced Placement courses are not only contributing to collegiate success but to bank accounts.
Rewarding Achievement (or for the acronym enthusiasts out there, REACH) is a program set up by the Council of Urban Professionals, a New York nonprofit, that teams up with high schools in the Big Apple to offer students monetary incentives for achieving a passing grade on AP exams.
North Carolina should consider trying to find a group that would commit to helping start a similar program.
Basic economics says that people respond to incentives. Offering monetary rewards to students for scoring well on AP exams provides extra incentive beyond college credit and will help reach students who otherwise wouldn't take AP classes.
REACH has $1 million in seed funding from the Pershing Square Foundation to reward students with $500 for getting a 3 on an exam, $750 for earning a 4 and $1,000 for achieving the highest score of 5.
This is definitely a useful approach to increase the number of Advanced Placement students. Whether you like to admit it or not, money is a driving factor in society. Treat the AP exams just like a real-world job; the majority of employees are motivated to work hard because with success comes monetary rewards.
This program puts a value on learning beyond just the sake of learning, which for some is not a persuasive reason to pursue an education.
Because the program only awards those students who do well, it deafens any criticism about students just taking APs for the sake of getting money. These incentives benefit only those who are willing to give the time and commitment necessary to get a passing score.
We understand that not everywhere has the luxury of finding a generous nonprofit to fund relatively large monetary rewards, but at the very least, poorer students should not have to pay to take the AP test.
It would also be wise to ensure the money is allocated toward higher education since that is what the monetary rewards are trying to encourage. However, enforcement of such a policy might have to submit to the "honor code" unless college fund accounts are set up.
After all, that's what AP scores are there for: to help you get in to college and then to get credit once you are there. It only makes sense to put this money toward the college of the students' choice.
There's little question that a higher education pays off in the long run.
By showing students that education pays early on, more students will be likely to pursue some form of higher education and receive its dividends later on in life.
