AP Microeconomics

Advanced Placement (AP) Microeconomics (also known as AP Micro) is a course offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program for high school students interested in college-level coursework in microeconomics and/or gaining advanced standing in college. The course begins with a study of fundamental economic concepts such as scarcity, opportunity costs, production possibilities, specialization, and comparative advantage. Major topics include the nature and functions of product markets; factor markets; and efficiency, equity, and the role of government.[1] AP Microeconomics is often taken in conjunction with or after AP Macroeconomics.

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Topics outline and distribution of topics

Topics covered in the AP Microeconomics course and exam include:[2]

Unit Topic Exam Weighting
1 Basic Economic Concepts 12-15%
2 Supply and Demand 20-25%
3 Production, Cost, and the Perfect Competition Model 22-25%
4 Imperfect Competition 15-22%
5 Factor Markets 10-13%
6 Market Failure and the Role of the Government 8-13%

The exam
  • Multiple Choice: Students are given 70 minutes to complete 60 multiple choice questions which are weighted 2/3 (66.7%) of the total exam score.
  • Free-Response Students are allotted 10 minutes of planning then 50 minutes of writing for one long free-response question (weighted 50% of section score) and two short ones (weighted 25% section score each).[3]

Score distribution

74,049 students took the AP Microeconomics exam in 2014.[4]

The exam was first held in 1989, along with Macroeconomics. Grade distributions since 2008 are as follows:

Score 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015[5] 2016[6] 2017[7] 2018[8] 2019[9] 2020[10] 2021[11] 2022[12] 2023[13]
5 18.1% 17.9% 16.6% 16.1% 16.6% 18.1% 15.9% 19.1% 15.3% 21.5% 19.2% 22.2% 23.3% 18.5% 17.7% 21.3%
4 26.3% 27.4% 27.0% 26.2% 28.2% 28.6% 28.9% 28.6% 27.3% 28.3% 28% 28.4% 29.0% 24.0% 22.5% 26.0%
3 18.8% 19.7% 20.2% 21.3% 20.9% 20.0% 20.7% 19.4% 23% 18.5% 20.2% 17.8% 16.6% 16.6% 18.8% 20.7%
2 15.2% 14.6% 14.8% 15.6% 15.8% 14.9% 15.5% 13.8% 14.4% 12.8% 15.8% 12.4% 14.2% 17.0% 16.9% 19.9%
1 21.5% 20.4% 21.4% 20.8% 18.5% 18.4% 18.9% 19.1% 20% 18.9% 16.8% 19.2% 16.9% 23.9% 24.2% 12.1%
% of scores 3 or higher 63.2% 65.0% 63.8% 63.6% 65.7% 66.7% 65.5% 67.1% 65.6% 68.3% 67.4% 68.4% 68.9% 59.1% 59.0% 68.0%
Mean 3.04 3.08 3.03 3.01 3.09 3.13 3.07 3.15 3.04 3.21 3.17 3.22 3.28 2.96 2.93 3.25
Standard deviation 1.41 1.39 1.39 1.38 1.36 1.37 1.35 1.39 1.35 1.41 1.36 1.42 1.40 1.45 1.44 1.32
Number of Students 46,272 51,601 56,303 62,351 67,505 74,049 78,408 82,388 87,858 90,032 91,551 82,415 80,199 84,386 94,772

See also
  1. "Course Description of AP Microeconomics" (PDF). 2012. pp. 6–8. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  2. "Course Description of AP Microeconomics" (PDF). 2012. pp. 9–10. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  3. "Course Description of AP Microeconomics" (PDF). 2012. p. 5. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  4. Microeconomics Score Distributions
  5. 2015 AP Score Distributions - Total Registration
  6. Total Registration. "2016 AP Exam Score Distributions". www.totalregistration.net. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  7. Total Registration. "2017 AP Exam Score Distributions". www.totalregistration.net. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  8. "Student Score Distributions, AP Exams - May 2018" (PDF). The College Board. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  9. @AP_Trevor (12 June 2019). "The 2019 AP Microeconomics scores: 5: 22.2%; 4: 28.4%; 3: 17.8%; 2: 12.4%; 1: 19.2%" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  11. "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  12. "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  13. "2023 AP Exam Score Distributions". www.totalregistration.net. Retrieved 2023-06-29.

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