NEW YORK

Students who do well on Advanced Placement exams will be rewarded with cash under a new plan financed with $1 million in private funds.

High school students who get a top score of five on the exam will get $1,000. A score of four will earn $750, and a three will be worth $500.

Passing an A.P. test allows students to earn college credits while in high school.

The program is the brainchild of hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson.

"We believe that aligning rewards with achievement is important. It works," Tilson told The New York Sun reported.

The Department of Education was scheduled to make the announcement at a news conference Monday.

Twenty-five public schools and six private schools will participate in the program, beginning this year.

The incentive is intended to raise the number of low-income, Black and Latino high school students in New York who take and pass A.P. exams.

According to The New York Times, the program also will give $2,000 to each participating school and invite them to apply for a grant of up to $10,000 to invest in their A.P. classes.

The Department of Education is beginning its own program that pays some students in grades four and seven just for taking standardized tests, and offers extra cash if they score high.

—      Associated Press