BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Maryland schools are number one when it comes to the number of students passing Advanced Placement exams.

Gigi Barnett explains how Maryland beat other states and what it means for students.

For the third year in a row, Maryland holds the top spot in education nationwide. Now there’s another honor.

“Today we’ve heard from the College Board that we are the number one state in the nation in terms of performance of our students on Advanced Placement exams,” said State School Superintendent Dr. Nancy Grasmick.

For Maryland students like Molly Senate Sinnot and DiJohn Mason, taking AP courses means less time in college, more scholarships and, in the long run, money saved.

“In the kind of economy we’re in now, it’s harder to pay for something, especially family, so I think any way I can get some money to help out with college, that’d be something off the back of my mom,” said Mason.

Maryland leads the nation in the number of students who scored a three or better on the AP exam. That means they can earn college credit. Teachers say there’s an uptick in the number of students who take AP courses because they know the classes will challenge them as a college course would.

“Every bit of responsibility is placed on the students,” said Courtney Hoffman.

Grasmick says she focused on making Advanced Placement classes more accessible to all students, and it’s paid off.

“We want to maintain our number one ranking, but we’re looking to the next challenge for number one,” Grasmick said.

Maryland placed second behind Florida in the total number of students taking an AP exam, but Maryland students scored higher on the test than students from anywhere else.

Maryland also ranked first in the nation in the number of students who took the AP exam in math and sciences.