I am aware of only one college that does not give credit for AP classes, Amherst. There may be others that do not award credit for AP courses and some colleges may require a 5 or 4 score to award credit but I think it’s very uncommon for a college not to award AP credit for some courses. Having said that, each college or academic department within each college will decide which AP courses to award credit for. Perhaps this is a gross oversimplification but I think with public universities having a lot of strong AP scores will allow you to graduate 1 or 2 semesters early which obviously saves money. For private colleges it is less about graduating early and more common for students to double major. For example, D was admitted to Notre Dame this fall with 11 AP scores of 5 or 4. She is going to be able to double major in Math and Poly Sci and also have a minor in Constitutional something or other. This will not save us money but if she decides not to go to Law School she is in a much better position in the job market as a Math / Poly Sci double major than just say Poly Sci. So, if your son will end up going to a public college, having strong AP scores in some subjects may save you money but it is less likely at a private college.