Advanced Placement Exams Taken in the Humanities
Students took 2,230,908 AP humanities exams in 2024, far outstripping each of the other academic fields鈥攁rts, behavioral/social sciences, math/computer science, and natural sciences (Indicator I-12a).1 Humanities exams represented 39% of all AP exams taken in 2024, due largely to the high levels of exam-taking in English (986,369 exams in English language and literature combined), U.S. history (488,688), and world history (379,385). In contrast, relatively few students took exams in most other humanities subjects.2
- The number of humanities exams taken in 2024 grew to 3.8 times the number in 1996, even as the high school student body grew to only 1.2 times its 1996 number. From comparatively small numbers in 1996, exams taken in other fields increased much more dramatically over this time period. The number of behavioral/social science exams taken in 2024 grew to 14.5 times the number taken three decades earlier, while tests in the other science fields (math & computer science and natural sciences) increased by 7 to 8 times their 1996 numbers. As a result, the humanities鈥 share of all exams taken shrank from 56% in 1996 to under 40% in 2024. (In making comparisons among fields, it is important to note that the humanities鈥 base value is much larger than any other field.) The number of tests taken in every field, including the humanities, dipped during the COVID pandemic, began climbing again in 2022, and by 2024 exceeded pre-pandemic levels. For every field, the number of tests taken in 2024 was the largest number on record.
- The rate of humanities AP exam-taking among high school students also increased substantially from 1996 to 2024 (Indicator I-12b). The number of humanities exams taken per 100 students rose from approximately 3 in 1996 to over 13 in 2024.
- From 1996 to 2024, the number of exams taken increased substantially in each of the three broad humanities subject areas鈥擡nglish language and literature, history, and languages and literatures other than English (LOTE; Indicator I-12c). History (art, European, U.S., and world) experienced the greatest gain, over 400%. (Indicator I-12d depicts the trend in the rate of exam-taking for each of the broad humanities subjects.) Despite the sizable number of AP LOTE exams available, the level of exam-taking was modest relative to history and English.3
- The increase in LOTE exam-taking from 1996 to 2024 was fueled by substantial growth in the number of exams taken in Spanish language and literature, which have always accounted for a large majority of LOTE exams (80% in 2024; not pictured). Spanish exam-taking peaked in 2019 and then, like exam-taking in the humanities generally, declined substantially during the early years of the pandemic. But then an upward trend from 2022 to 2024 increased the number of Spanish exams taken to 94% of the 2019 high.
- Looking at recent trends, though humanities exam-taking in general increased by approximately 3%, a large proportion of humanities subjects saw a decrease in exam-taking from 2019 to 2024 (Indicator I-12e). European history and Latin, along with the French, German, and Italian language and culture exams experienced the steepest declines. For two languages though, Chinese and Japanese, the trajectory was upward. World and art history exam-taking also increased.
- The accessibility of AP courses in the humanities, as measured by the number of schools with students who took the exam, decreased substantially for several humanities subjects from 2019 to 2024, contributing to a 2% decrease in the number of schools offering humanities degrees (Indicator I-12f). The only LOTE exams that did not experience a decline were Japanese and Chinese. These two language exams saw substantial increases of 20% and 30% respectively in the number of schools offering them (albeit from a much lower base than most of the other languages). While the number of schools with students taking the U.S. and European history exams decreased, the number with students taking the world history exam was considerably larger in 2024 than five years earlier. The number of schools with students taking the art history exam also increased modestly.
- For White and Hispanic/Latino students and for students who identified as being of two or more races, the share of humanities exams taken was roughly proportional to their representation among the secondary school population in 2019 (Indicator I-12g; as of November 2025, the most recent year for which data are publicly available is 2019). The share of humanities exams taken by students of Asian ancestry was markedly higher than their share of the student population, while the share of exams taken by Black American and American Indian/Alaska Native students was smaller than their shares of the student population. A similar pattern was observed in the other academic fields, with the exception of STEM (excluding the behavioral/social sciences), where the share of tests taken by Hispanic students was substantially smaller than these students鈥 share of the school population. In interpreting these findings, bear in mind that the number of exam offerings is greater in the humanities than in the other broad subject areas. The racial/ethnic distribution of exam takers also differs substantially by humanities subject. Please see Supplemental Table I-12g for details.
Source: College Board, AP Program Participation and Performance Data, 鈥淧rogram Summary Report,鈥 (for years 2005鈥2023) and (for 2024). Data accessed summer of 2025. Data analyzed and presented by the Humanities Indicators ().
The AP exams treated as part of the humanities for the purposes of this analysis are: African American studies; art history; Chinese language & culture; English language; English literature; French language & culture; German language & culture; Italian language & culture; Japanese language & culture; Latin; Spanish language & culture; Spanish literature; U.S. history; world history.
Source: College Board, AP Program Participation and Performance Data, 鈥淧rogram Summary Report,鈥 (for years 2005鈥2023) and (for 2024), data accessed summer of 2025; and National Center for Education Statistics, 鈥淓nrollment in elementary, secondary, and degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by level and control of institution: Selected years, 1869-70 through fall 2031,鈥 in Digest of Education Statistics 2022, (accessed July 2025). Data analyzed and presented by the Humanities Indicators ().
The AP exams treated as part of the humanities for the purposes of this analysis are: African American studies; art history; Chinese language & culture; English language; English literature; French language & culture; German language & culture; Italian language & culture; Japanese language & culture; Latin; Spanish language & culture; Spanish literature; U.S. history; world history.
Source: College Board, AP Program Participation and Performance Data, 鈥淧rogram Summary Report,鈥 (for years 2005鈥2023) and (for 2024). Data accessed summer of 2025. Data analyzed and presented by the Humanities Indicators ().
The AP exams treated as part of the humanities for the purposes of this analysis are: African American studies; art history; Chinese language & culture; English language; English literature; French language & culture; German language & culture; Italian language & culture; Japanese language & culture; Latin; Spanish language & culture; Spanish literature; U.S. history; world history.
Source: College Board, AP Program Participation and Performance Data, 鈥淧rogram Summary Report,鈥 (for years 2005鈥2023) and (for 2024), data accessed summer of 2025; and National Center for Education Statistics, 鈥淓nrollment in elementary, secondary, and degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by level and control of institution: Selected years, 1869-70 through fall 2031,鈥 in Digest of Education Statistics 2022, https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d22/tables/dt22_105.30.asp (accessed July 2025). Data analyzed and presented by the Humanities Indicators ().
The AP exams treated as part of the humanities for the purposes of this analysis are: African American studies; art history; Chinese language & culture; English language; English literature; French language & culture; German language & culture; Italian language & culture; Japanese language & culture; Latin; Spanish language & culture; Spanish literature; U.S. history; world history.
* The African American studies exam was excluded from this analysis as it was first offered in 2024.
Source: College Board, AP Program Participation and Performance Data, 鈥淧rogram Summary Report,鈥 (for years 2005鈥2023) and (for 2024), data accessed summer of 2025; and National Center for Education Statistics, 鈥淓nrollment in elementary, secondary, and degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by level and control of institution: Selected years, 1869-70 through fall 2031,鈥 in Digest of Education Statistics 2022, https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d22/tables/dt22_105.30.asp (accessed July 2025). Data analyzed and presented by the Humanities Indicators ().).
* The African American studies exam was excluded from this analysis as it was first offered in 2024.
Source: College Board, AP Program Participation and Performance Data, 鈥淧rogram Summary Report,鈥 (for years 2005鈥2023) and (for 2024). Data accessed summer of 2025. Data analyzed and presented by the Humanities Indicators ().
Source: College Board, AP Program Participation and Performance Data 2019, 鈥淣ational Summary Report,鈥 (accessed fall 2021); and U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics 2019 (Tables 205.20 and 205.30) and Digest of Education Statistics 2020 (Table 203.50), (accessed fall 2021). Data analyzed and presented by the Humanities Indicators ().
The College Board gives students the option of identifying as 鈥淎merican Indian/Alaska Native,鈥 鈥淎sian,鈥 鈥淏lack,鈥 鈥淗ispanic/Latino,鈥 鈥淣ative Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander,鈥 鈥淲hite,鈥 or 鈥淭wo or More Races,鈥 or 鈥淥ther鈥濃攐r not identifying at all. The Humanities Indicators has combined 鈥淎sian鈥 and 鈥淣ative Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander鈥 to permit comparison between the racial/ethnic composition of those taking AP exams and the composition of the secondary student population generally (the National Center for Education Statistics employs the broader category of 鈥淎sian & Pacific Islander鈥 in describing the race/ethnicity of the country鈥檚 high schoolers).
The 鈥淥ther鈥 category was omitted from this analysis because only one student identified as such.
The AP exams treated as part of the humanities for the purposes of this analysis are: African American studies; art history; Chinese language & culture; English language; English literature; French language & culture; German language & culture; Italian language & culture; Japanese language & culture; Latin; Spanish language & culture; Spanish literature & culture; U.S. history; world history.
