Italian Advanced Placement Exams Return to American High Schools

Announced last month by the Embassy of Italy in Washington D.C., The teaching of Italian has returned with the utmost regard and diffusion to the American scholastic system: next year, Italian courses and exams that guarantee college credits will return to high schools in the US. After a year of suspension due to a lack of funds, the Advanced Placement (AP) Program in Italian Language and Culture will be reintroduced in American schools, a scholastic program that allows for high schools to offer Italian language exams that count toward college credits.

The new courses will begin in the 2011-2012 academic year. The reinstatement of the program was possible also thanks to the contribution of the Italian community in the US. Italian courses were suspended in August 2009 along with French literature, Latin literature and computer science courses. The reason for the suspension was purely financial: the cost (90 dollars per student for approximately 1,900 students) was not sufficient to cover the expenses for organizing the exams.

The number of Italian students is increasing; it is for this reason that the reinstatement of Advanced Placement was possible. According to the Modern Language Association, in the past ten years, the number of Italian students in American universities has increased from 49 thousand (in 2000) to 78 thousand today. Credit also goes to the Embassy of Italy and the efforts conducted under the ‘Sistema Italia’ program which organized support, including funding, from the major Italian-American organizations and the most important Italian firms that believed in the initiative.

“At this moment in time, Italian is the only European language that can boast of a positive trend in the United States – underlined Under Secretary Scotti. I am confident that American families will welcome the opportunity that the College Board has offered them. The dissemination of Italian abroad is an absolute priority for Italian foreign policy, and it is for this reason that on behalf of our government I thank all those who have made this possible.”

“Today – added Ambassador Terzi – is a success for both the Italian government and the Italian community in America.” This opinion is shared also by Gaston Caperton who recognized that thanks to the work of the Embassy and the Italian-American community, courses now have full funding. “Today – he concluded – is an important day for Italy in America and for all of us.”

Click Here for Full Press Release