Nearly 60 percent more high school students in Massachusetts and five other states will be taking advanced math and science courses this fall, according to the National Math and Science Initiative.
According to NMSI, 13,000 students at schools in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas and Alabama have enrolled in advanced placement math, science and English courses.
Last year, the same courses in those states had enrollment of 8,700, NMSI said.
Last year, Dallas, Texas-based NMSI selected six states to receive $13.2 million to provide training for advanced placement teachers and preparatory sessions for potential advanced students.
The organization expects more than 500 schools and as many as 200,000 students to have participated in the program within five years. The organization also hopes to expand the program to include 20 states and as many as 700,000 advanced students.
NMSI is a public/private partnership supported by Exxon Mobil Corp., the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, IBM and Perot Systems.
