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NEW YORK, NY October 15, 2007 —Students at 25 city high schools and 6 parochial schools will make extra money if they do well on their Advanced Placement tests. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

REPORTER: The students can earn between 500 and a thousand dollars, depending on how high they score. The goal is to get more minority students to take the competitive tests and go to college. Ben Antoine, an 11th grader at Long Island City High School, says the financial incentive will motivate him to work even harder in his three Advanced Placement classes.

ANTOINE: I mean it's almost like a trophy to show all the hard work you've done, it pays off in the end, yeah.

REPORTER: Some critics might say learning should be its own reward, but Chancellor Joel Klein says the program is no different from a college scholarship. It's being funded with 1 million dollars from private groups and targets schools with large African-American and Hispanic student bodies. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.