As students study for AP exams for almost an entire year, it can be devastating to see their year-long efforts go down the drain. AP students go through a stressful year, virtually controlling every factor they can–study environments, AP study guides, time, and sleep–to show their best performances on the exams. Recently, however, dozens of Starpoint Central High School students’ exams went missing onboard a UPS, a global shipping company, which was making its way to a grading center.

The missing 106 AP exams in Literature and U.S. History never made their way to the College Board’s national grading centre in Ewing, New Jersey. The exams were administered on May 5 and 6, 2021, and are reported to have shipped on May 7. Two months later, however, the College Board notified Starpoint saying that the shipment had not arrived.

The staff at Starpoint are hoping that UPS is able to find the missing boxes of AP exams, while Starpoint and the College Board have begun investigations to find out what exactly happened.

The Dilemma
Students now face a heart-breaking decision to either retake their AP exams or receive a refund of the $95 fee charged for each course. According to a letter sent to the parents and guardians of each AP student, if students choose to retake their exams and the missing shipment is later found, the student’s highest score will count.

Surprisingly, the College Board has encountered these problems before and are going through an exhaustive attempt to locate the missing exams.

The College Board has stated that, ”Based on what UPS told us, the exams are unlikely to be recovered. A makeup test for impacted students will be administered this summer. We are sending emails to students notifying them about the makeup.”

Politicians have also made calls to UPS to find the missing AP exams. U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer backed the cause of the affected AP students at Starpoint.

"These hard-working students learned the intricacies of the American Revolution, the Civil War, the struggle for civil rights, and so much more, and they do not deserve the indignity of a half-baked effort to find the missing exams. Instead, UPS must pull out all the stops, find the missing box of exams and honor their work with a fair result,” said Senator Schumer.

While the College Board, Starpoint, and UPS are making attempts to uncover the missing shipment, Starpoint AP students and parents are becoming angrier. With the summer nearly over, it is unclear what will unfold, but if the problem is not resolved, this tragic event could possibly serve as a precedent for being more attentive and cautious with AP exams in the future.