What Is The AP Capstone Program? Everything You Should Know

For many high school students, taking AP courses is a great way to prepare for—and test out of —the coursework they will encounter in college. The AP Capstone™ offers diploma and certificate credentials that signals AP students have developed the essential abilities they need for college.

Rather than focusing on specific academic subjects, AP Capstone courses take an interdisciplinary approach, allowing students to develop their research, critical thinking, presentation, collaboration and time management skills. These tools help students succeed in their college coursework and future careers.

This article explores the AP Capstone program to give you an overview of what you should know if you’re considering choosing this educational path. Keep reading to learn more about this unique program and determine if it fits your needs.

How Does the AP Capstone Program Work?

The AP Capstone Program helps students prepare for college while still in high school. College is a rigorous experience that requires excellent research, time management, collaboration, presentation and critical thinking skills. Students who earn the capstone program’s diploma or certificate may thrive in college because they have spent time developing crucial skills they need for higher education coursework.

The AP Capstone program combines subject-based coursework and skills-based classes to provide a well-rounded learning experience for students. Below, we examine the program’s structure and required courses.

Program Structure

Alongside subject-specific AP courses, students in the AP Capstone program take two year-long classes: an AP Seminar course and an AP Research class. These courses teach students how to analyze and understand complex subjects, investigate issues, communicate effectively and collaborate with peers to solve problems.

The AP Capstone program uses the QUEST framework to help students develop these essential skills. The components of this framework are:

• Question – Explore and investigate various subjects.
• Understand – Contextualize arguments to better understand authors’ claims.
• Evaluate – Collaborate with peers to evaluate multiple perspectives on an issue.
• Synthesize – Study and synthesize others’ perspectives and ideas to learn how to develop an effective argument.
• Team – Work in teams to pool everyone’s talents and strengths together to adapt and transmit messages to an audience.

If you score 3 or higher in your seminar and research courses—and on at least four other AP courses—you earn the AP Capstone Diploma™. If you score 3 or higher in your seminar and research courses but not on at least four other AP courses, you earn the AP Seminar and Research Certificate™.

AP Seminar

You can take your AP Seminar in 10th or 11th grade. AP Seminar is a prerequisite to the AP Research course. The seminar class focuses on building critical thinking, collaboration and research skills through interdisciplinary approaches. You learn how to read and analyze articles and other written materials, gather information, understand multiple perspectives and develop evidence-based arguments.

AP Research

You take your AP Research course after completing your AP Seminar class. This course builds on the skills you develop in the AP Seminar. It allows you to demonstrate your research and critical thinking skills through a subject of your choice. You learn how to conduct an in-depth investigation, analyze evidence and sources, apply multiple perspectives, write an academic paper and present your research findings.

AP Capstone vs. AP Courses

AP courses explore specific subjects, including English, the arts, sciences, history, social sciences, math, computer science and world languages and cultures. The exams for these classes test the depth and breadth of your knowledge in these fields.

In contrast, AP Capstone is a program consisting of a two-course sequence. To receive the AP Capstone Diploma, you must earn a score of 3 or higher on your AP Seminar class, your AP Research course and four other AP classes. If you earn a 3 in the AP Capstone courses but not four other AP classes, you receive the AP Seminar and Research Certificate.

Unlike other AP classes, the seminar and research courses do not focus on particular subjects.

Is AP Capstone Worth It?

Whether completing the AP Capstone program is worth it depends on your educational goals and how dedicated you are to achieving them. If you want to get a jump start on understanding how to engage in college-level research and coursework, then it may be worth it for you to participate in the AP Capstone program.

AP Capstone Benefits

The benefits of an AP Capstone program include:

• Developing essential academic skills students can use in college and their future careers
• Providing cross-curricular learning opportunities that examine on real-world issues
• Encouraging students to become critical thinkers, independent researchers and problem-solvers
• Building collaboration and communication skills
• Setting students apart from their peers during the college application and acceptance process
• Allowing students to earn college credit if they pass the capstone course exams

AP Capstone Potential Drawbacks

While AP Capstone programs can improve many important academic and communication skills, they are also quite demanding. Taking on the additional time commitments required for the AP Capstone classes may not appeal to you.

Do Colleges Care About the AP Capstone Program?

Earning an AP Capstone Diploma demonstrates your college readiness, which may be helpful during the admissions process at some colleges and universities. The College Board, who developed the AP Capstone Diploma program, created these courses in response to academic leaders’ desire for classes that prepare students for the rigorous demands of academic research, collaboration and writing.

According to College Board research, students who earn an AP Capstone Diploma in high school are more likely to have higher grades and retention rates in their first year of college than students who did not take AP exams during high school.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About the AP Capstone Program