With the launch of the full AP Capstone by the College Board in fall 2014, the program has expanded to now being offered in 1100 schools.
[14] In AP Research students design, plan and conduct a year-long research-based investigation on a personally-chosen subject.
Students must obtain a final score of 3 or higher to be able to receive AP certification.
[1] As of the 2017–18 school year, AP Research papers are graded using a holistic rubric.
The two central elements that move a paper from a 2 to a 3 are the middle two rows, which assess the methodology and conclusion.