In an effort to answer the "Educational Call to Arms", our national public schools have turned to Advanced Placement (AP) courses as the predominate vehicle used to address the lack of academic rigor in our public high schools. Advanced Placement is believed by many to provide students with the rigor and work ethic necessary to participate and succeed in obtaining the education necessary to bring the United States back to the forefront of the world dominance in economy, state-of-the-art technology, and education. Examining contemporary research literature on Advanced Placement and College Graduation variables, this review of literature exposed two common themes that consistently appeared throughout multiple sources. The lack of rigor within the national educational system and the achievement gap among minorities and low-socioeconomic students materialized as the missing ingredient within our public schools.