ECE and AP classes are two types of courses, each aimed at achieving college credits. The similar aims of the classes can cause students confusion when choosing courses.
AP classes are more common than ECE classes. Waterford High School offers 15 purely AP classes and 10 ECE classes that also offer an AP test. AP courses are run through the College Board. The College Board is a non-profit organization focused on education, best known as the creator and administrator of the SATs. The College Board, while having connections with colleges and universities, is not directly affiliated with any higher education institute.
ECE classes are run in cooperation with the University of Connecticut, UCONN. As such, students who pass the class are considered to have passed a UCONN class and given a UCONN college transcript. Because of this, 87% of colleges, private and public, accept ECE credits. ECE classes are priced at $50 a credit, with a semester class being 3 credits.
AP classes also award AP/college credit on the basis of a test score. AP exams are graded on a 1-5 scale. As these scores can vary, colleges have varying standards for the acceptability of scores. Some colleges consider 3s and up as passing, while others only accept 5s, making transferring credits a more involved process. This year (2025-26) AP has a standard pricing of $99 for all exams taken in the US, US territories, Canada, and all DoDEA schools.
ECE and AP classes are dissimilar in the amount of oversight they receive. Mr. Cheney, longtime AP government teacher, says that “AP classes have more freedom in how they are taught, ECE classes are more restrictive.”
ECE classes are held directly accountable to UCONN, so they have stricter standards to meet. ECE is required to be taught by teachers with advanced degrees in the subject, comparable to college professors, while AP classes can be taught by any teacher who is certified in that subject.
However, this oversight is not always for the best. Ms. Hartell says that “UCONN doesn’t always understand the best ways to teach a subject area”.
Because UCONN is not a secondary school, they do not always make requirements that are possible for high school teachers or students in our settings. In some ways, the freedom of AP classes is better compared to ECE classes’ rigidness.
To receive AP credit students have to pass “one high stakes test”. If students are not good test takers, they won’t receive credit, even if they have done well throughout the school year. This was the case in one of Mr. Cheney’s AP government classes last year, where two students didn’t pass the AP exam, but all students received As and Bs.
If those students had taken an ECE class, which awards credit based on holistic performance and not a singular test, they would have college credit. ECC students have also not wanted their high school grades in college. Ms. Hartell had a student petition UConn to retake American Studies in college because the student did not want their B- to appear on their college transcript.
While ECE and AP classes may seem similar at first glance, they are two separate entities with their own advantages and disadvantages.
