AP Exam Registration 2026–27: Deadlines, Fees, and Late Fees

Here's the part of AP that surprises most families: the exam is in May, but the decision to take it happens in the fall. For the 2027 AP Exams, the final deadline for schools to order exams is November 13, 2026 — and every exam ordered after that costs $40 more.

If you're in an AP class right now, that deadline is about a week away. If you're a 9th or 10th grader taking your first AP, this is the one date in the whole process that's easy to miss and costs money when you do.

By the end of this article, you will know:

• How AP Exam registration actually works — and who places the order
• Every 2026–27 deadline and fee, exactly as College Board publishes them
• How the fee reduction works, and what happens if you change your mind

How registration works: you don't order the exam, your school does

You don't sign up for an AP Exam on your own. AP Exams are ordered by your school's AP coordinator — the staff member who runs AP testing — through College Board's ordering system.

Your part happens in My AP, College Board's online AP portal. According to College Board's AP Students registration page (apstudents.collegeboard.org/register-for-ap-exams, checked Oct. 7, 2026):

1. Your AP teacher gives you a join code — six characters — so you can join their class section in My AP.
2. You sign in to My AP with your College Board account, choose "Join a Course or Exam," and enter the code.
3. If your school requires it, you click "Register for the Exam." College Board says this button "will let your AP coordinator know that you plan to take the exam, and they will order it for you." If you don't see the button, College Board says you've been automatically registered.

Joining the class section in My AP is what puts you on your school's exam order. If you haven't joined yet, do it this week.

Your school may also set its own sign-up and payment dates so it can place the order in time. Those dates are your school's, not College Board's — ask your AP coordinator or check your school's AP page.

The 2026–27 dates and fees

All of these come from College Board's published 2026–27 pages for the 2027 exams: the AP Central key dates page, the AP Central and AP Students exam fee pages, and the AP Central fee reduction page (all checked Oct. 7, 2026).

Deadlines

• October 2, 2026 — College Board's preferred ordering deadline for schools.
• November 13, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET — the final ordering deadline for full-year and first-semester courses.
• March 12, 2027, 11:59 p.m. ET — the deadline for schools to order exams for spring courses and to make changes to existing orders.
• April 30, 2027, 11:59 p.m. ET — the deadline for AP Seminar, AP Research, and AP Computer Science Principles students to submit performance tasks, and for coordinators to mark students eligible for a fee reduction.
• May 3–7 and May 10–14, 2027 — the two weeks of regular AP Exams. Late testing runs May 17–21, 2027.

Fees

• $99 per exam at schools in the U.S., U.S. territories, and Canada ($129 at schools outside those locations).
• $40 late order fee per exam, on top of the exam fee, for exams ordered between November 14, 2026, and March 12, 2027.
• $40 unused or canceled exam fee, charged instead of the full exam fee for an exam that's canceled after November 13 or marked unused.

Two details matter here. First, the late fee window doesn't apply to courses that start after November 13 — a spring-semester AP course is ordered by the March deadline without a late fee. Second, College Board says homeschooled students, and students whose school doesn't give the exam they want, can be added after November 13 without a late fee if the testing school's coordinator requests it by March 12, 2027. College Board still tells those students to contact a testing school "as early in the school year as possible," and points them to its AP Course Ledger to find nearby schools.

Fee reductions: what they are and who qualifies

College Board provides a $37 fee reduction per AP Exam for students with financial need. According to its fee reduction page, schools are expected to give up their own $9 per-exam rebate for these students, "resulting in a cost of $53 per exam."

Who qualifies, per College Board: students enrolled in or eligible for the National School Lunch Program (free or reduced-price lunch) qualify on all AP Exams they take that year. That includes students whose family income falls within USDA guidelines and students who are categorically eligible — for example, through SNAP, TANF, or Medicaid, or because they're in foster care, unhoused, migrant, or runaway youth. Schools may also use other low-income criteria College Board lists.

You don't apply to College Board yourself. Your AP coordinator marks eligible students in the ordering system, by April 30, 2027. Many states add their own funding on top of the College Board reduction, which can lower the cost further — College Board lists state programs on AP Central, and your coordinator will know what applies.

If money is the reason you're hesitating to sign up, talk to your counselor or coordinator before November 13, not after.

What to do this week

1. Confirm you're in My AP. Sign in and make sure every AP class you're taking shows up. If one is missing, get the join code from your teacher.

2. Look for the "Register for the Exam" button. If it's there, decide and click before your school's deadline.

3. Get your school's dates and price. Ask your AP coordinator: When is our sign-up deadline? What do we pay per exam? Is there state or district help?

4. Decide exam by exam. Plan to take an exam only if you'll actually sit for it. An exam canceled after November 13, or ordered and left unused, can still cost $40.

5. Check what the score is worth. Whether an AP Exam is worth the fee depends on what credit your target colleges give for it. That's a policy you can look up now, college by college.

The bottom line

AP registration happens in the fall, through your school, and the calendar is short.

Join your class in My AP and confirm your exams before November 13, 2026 — after that, each exam costs $40 more, and canceling a confirmed exam can cost $40 too. If cost is a barrier, ask about the fee reduction now; your coordinator can't mark you eligible if they don't know.

Dates and fees are College Board's published figures for the 2026–27 school year (2027 AP Exams), from AP Central's "AP 2026-27 Key Dates and Deadlines" and "AP Exam Fees" pages, AP Students' "2027 AP Exam Fees" page and its exam registration page, AP Central's "AP Exam Fee Reductions" page, and AP Central's guidance for homeschooled students — all checked Oct. 7, 2026. Schools may charge more than College Board's fee, and state and district funding varies. Confirm your school's deadlines and costs with your AP coordinator.