In What is AP?, we looked at the organization that has created one of the world's most popular college prep programs. This companion article will look at the other college preparatory program known as IB. The organization behind the IB program, the International Baccalaureate Organization, was founded in 1968. With its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the IB Organization serves over 1.3 million students in 147 countries.
What is the IB?
Most people think of the IB or International Baccalaureate as the organization which sponsors the highly-regarded college preparatory IB Diploma Programme. Indeed the IB Diploma is where it all started. The IB Diploma is the college preparatory component of a curriculum that begins early childhood and ends with pre-college and pre-career programs.
The International Baccalaureate Organization has grown into four programs: Primary Years, Middle Years, Diploma, and IB Career-related Programmes. This, then, is one of the major differences with Advanced Placement. Practically speaking, Advanced Placement encompasses only the college preparatory years in the academic continuum, although it now offers a Pre-AP designed to encourage students. The IB Organization offers programs that begin with 3-year-olds and end with college preparatory and career-related diplomas.
The IB Diploma Programme
Since you are interested in finding out the similarities and differences between the two top college prep academic programs, let's look under the hood of the IB Diploma Programme and find out what's