Due to the coronavirus pandemic, high school students around the country have experienced an unprecedented disruption of their academics. There is a broad consensus that online school simply does not foster a learning environment that is conducive to student's success, both long term and short term.

Because of this, students are being set up for failure in regard to the AP exams, particularly due to their move to an online test. Not only will this style of exam be difficult to proctor across the board, but the prospect of an online exam will be difficult for low-income students with little to no access to the Internet or computer devices. Internet connection can often be lost with little warning or reason; what happens to the students who lose connection 5 minutes before the test is complete? What happens to those who experience a blackout the day of the test, and they simply miss the entire exam?

This is a time of uncertainty, fear, and anxiety. How will those students who have been and will be directly impacted by the coronavirus fare? Is it fair to have them sit for an exam when their relatives or they themselves are suffering from this awful disease?

Millions of students in the U.S. have been working hard all year in preparation for the AP exams, and as such they have earned their grades. Why should a 45 minute long test during one of the most uncertain and, frankly, terrifying periods of recent history dictate who is able to save thousands of dollars worth of credit hours and who isn't? There is a much better metric for this: the student's grades.