BY SOPHIE QUINTON, National Journal
A University of Iowa program called the Iowa Online AP Academy has been giving students access to free, online Advanced Placement courses since 2001. The online learning partnership offsets some of the disadvantages that can come with being a high-achieving student in a small, isolated school district, providing the chance to take challenging academic courses that many schools can’t offer. Over the past five years, an average of 430 students across Iowa have enrolled in courses through IOAPA each year. IOAPA was created with rural districts in mind, but any accredited school in Iowa can participate. Online courses can be prohibitively expensive, and it can be hard for even motivated teenagers to stay on top of their work without a teacher and classmates present. So IOAPA was designed to address both challenges.
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