Jobs and career pathways
AP U.S. History jobs, salary benchmarks, and career pathways
APUSH is a high school exam whose direct payoff is college credit and placement. The benchmark below is the most literal professional destination for the discipline, and it is a small field — worth seeing plainly rather than dressed up.
Updated October 7, 2026
Where this exam tends to lead
These roles centre on student pathways and tutoring roles. The role targets below are the main search patterns this jobs page is built around.
For academic exams, this page emphasizes tutoring, coaching, and adjacent education roles rather than a direct post-certification job market.
Where the history track leads
APUSH is a high school exam whose direct payoff is college credit and placement. The benchmark below is the most literal professional destination for the discipline, and it is a small field — worth seeing plainly rather than dressed up.
| Role / benchmark | Pay | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Historians | $76,750 median annual wage | May 2025 figure. A very small field of about 3,800 jobs, projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035 BLS Historians |
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Official AP U.S. History exam facts
| Fact | Current detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total exam length | 3 hours 15 minutes | College Board AP U.S. History assessment |
| Section IA — Multiple Choice | 55 questions, 55 minutes, 40% of score | College Board AP U.S. History assessment |
| Section IB — Short Answer | 3 questions, 40 minutes, 20% of score | College Board AP U.S. History assessment |
| Section II — Free Response | 2 questions, 1 hour 40 minutes, 40% of score combined | College Board AP U.S. History assessment |
| Document-based question | 7 documents, recommended 60 minutes including a 15-minute reading period, worth 25% of the exam score — the single most valuable task on the paper | College Board AP U.S. History assessment |
| Long essay question | 1 question, 40 minutes, worth 15% of the exam score | College Board AP U.S. History assessment |
| Delivery | A fully digital exam. All responses are typed in the Bluebook testing app and submitted automatically at the end — unlike AP Calculus AB, which is hybrid and handwritten for free response | College Board AP U.S. History assessment |
| Next exam date | Friday, May 7, 2027, in Session 1. College Board describes Session 1 as the morning timeslot and does not publish exact start times — your AP coordinator confirms the time | College Board AP Exam calendar |
| Exam fee | $99 in the U.S., U.S. territories, Canada, and DoDEA schools; $129 outside the U.S. | College Board AP exam fees |
| Late order and cancellation fees | $40 per exam ordered between November 14 and March 12, and $40 per exam that is ordered then unused or cancelled. Schools may also charge more than the base fee to cover proctoring and administration | College Board AP exam fees |
| Fee reduction | Eligible students with significant financial need may receive a $37 College Board fee reduction per exam | College Board AP exam fees |
| Score needed for credit | Scored 1–5. Many U.S. colleges grant credit or advanced placement for a 3 or above, but each college sets its own policy | College Board about AP scores |
Fetched job listings
These listings come from the latest automated jobs update run. If a board blocks or limits retrieval, use the live search links above.
6 listings captured
The Muse
Store Associate
CVS Health
Litchfield, CT
The Muse
(USA) Tire and Battery Service Advisor
Walmart
Eau Claire, WI
The Muse
Café Associate
Walmart
Clive, IA
The Muse
Maintenance Custodian Associate
Walmart
Ellicott City, MD
The Muse
Retail Customer Service Associate
Walmart
El Paso, TX
The Muse
PRODUCE/CLERK
Kroger
Bowling Green, OH
Official resources
Section-by-section structure, timing, and the weighting of each response type.
The 2027 exam dates and which session each subject falls in.
Base fee, out-of-country fee, late-order and unused-exam fees, and the fee reduction.
The 1–5 scale and how colleges apply it to credit and placement.
External resources and benchmarks
Wage and employment outlook for the discipline itself.
Questions people ask before choosing this path
How much is the DBQ worth on APUSH?
25% of the total exam score, with a recommended 60 minutes to complete it. That makes it the highest-value single task on the paper — worth more than the three short-answer questions combined, which total 20%.
How many documents are in the APUSH DBQ?
Seven. The recommended 60 minutes includes a 15-minute reading period for those documents, which leaves roughly 45 minutes of writing time for a task worth a quarter of the exam.
How is the rest of the exam weighted?
Multiple choice is 40%, short answer is 20%, and the free-response section is 40% — split as 25% for the document-based question and 15% for the long essay.
Is AP U.S. History taken on paper or on a computer?
It is a fully digital exam. All responses are typed in the Bluebook testing app and submitted automatically when the exam ends. There are no paper answer booklets, unlike AP Calculus AB.
When is the AP U.S. History exam in 2027?
Friday, May 7, 2027. It is a Session 1 exam, which College Board describes as the morning timeslot. College Board does not publish exact start times, so confirm the time with your school’s AP coordinator.