College Board National Recognition Program

The College Board National Recognition Program is an academic recognition scheme that identifies high-achieving middle and high school students. It grants official awards (certificates) to students who meet specified exam score or grade criteria and who meet certain community-based categories (First-Generation, School, Rural and Small-Town recognition). Recipients can include the award on college and scholarship applications and may be recruited by colleges.

Official recognition award/certificate that can be downloaded and shared on college and scholarship applications; may increase recruitment visibility to colleges.

Students may qualify by earning a 3+ on two or more AP Exams in 8th–10th grade OR by scoring in the top 10% on the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 among their high school's test takers, their state's first-generation test takers, or their state's rural or small-town test takers; a cumulative GPA of B+ (at least 3.3 or 87%–89%) by submission is also required. First-Generation Recognition requires confirmation of parents' education; School and Rural/Small-Town Recognition are based on the high school attended.

Students who meet qualifying exam score and GPA criteria can download their certificate via the BigFuture profile; a customer service form is available for questions.