^ this would definitely be the case in several Midwestern states, in Pennsylvania, in Tennessee, in New jersey, in Missouri. There may be one or two exceptions but by and large, in these states at least, the pace is faster than AP, the autonomy required is higher than AP, but the depth and/or breadth of content wouldn’t match AP classes. (it is thus an excellent complement for advanced high school students who have taken AP, because these classes require different skills than AP classes, skills they’ll need to succeed in college.) Going from cc to 4-year is more or less of an adjustment. In Illinois, where articulation agreements are well-done, students who go from cc to uiuc have to up their game significantly but also need to review material that wasn’t necessarily covered in their cc class. In Pennsylvania, articulation agreements are between cc and directionals, and the level of expectation at the directional is nowhere near what it is at the flagships, whereas students find the cc to directional a big gap to match (as do ‘branch’ students when they get to the flagship, and ‘branches’, while they function like CA cc 's, are a little step above cc 's academically speaking. ‘branches’ and directional are probably the same.)