College Board Axes Latin Literature AP
By now many readers will have heard that the College Board, which administers the Advanced Placement (AP) program, has decided to drop the Latin Literature course from its offerings. (AP-Virgil will continue in "enhanced" form - whatever that means.) A number of other "underenrolled" courses have also been dropped, including Italian, French literature, and AB computer science. The last AP Latin literature exam will be offered in 2009.
This decision bodes ill not only for Latin teachers, who fear decreasing enrollments, but also for students who look to the AP to help ease their college tuition burden by getting credit for college-level courses while still in high school. Many elite schools also expect to see a full range of AP courses from applicants. It also represents a further erosion of the last remnants of classical education in the public schools.
While word on the "digital street" is that the College Board is unlikely to reverse the decision, Latin teachers have set up a petition and concerned parents and students affected by the decision are encouraged to write to the College Board to voice their opinions.
If there is a silver lining in this particular cloud, it is that college may now expect Latin teachers to cover a wider range of literature in Latin IV and V classes. This is, in my opinion, all to the good. I hope that those classes will include more representatives of "Late Latin," including Christian authors of late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. Homeschoolers have the freedom to put together more representative reading programs for their high school students; see the forthcoming new edition of LCC for ideas.