1,500 high schools launch new AP business course for first time

More than 1,500 high schools in the United States began offering a new Advanced Placement Business with Personal Finance course this year. It is the first year the class is available nationwide.

Students at Hoover High School near Birmingham, Alabama, are among the first to take the course. They sit in a semicircle with teacher Gerri Kimble, discussing how to handle part-time job paychecks. Some students buy loaded teas or fill gas tanks. Others invest. Junior Darshan Parmar says he invests his own money in index funds like the S&P 500, QQQ, and VOO. He manages the accounts himself. One student puts 70 percent of their earnings into a Roth IRA. Another contributes to a 401(k). A third buys stocks directly.

The College Board created the course after students told them they wanted to turn ideas into jobs. David Coleman, the organization’s CEO, said business is the constant learning of adaptation. He argues that mixing practical skills with theoretical study is highly useful today. He considers business a new part of the liberal arts, similar in importance to math and history.

The course covers management and finances. Students learn about political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors that affect businesses. Senior Bramley Williams said the class teaches foundational pieces of business. It is designed to appeal to students who prefer practical curricula over theoretical ones, such as the existing AP economics course.

This AP course fits a wider trend. Thirty-nine states now require a personal finance class for graduation. That is four more states than two years ago, according to the Council for Economic Education. Hoover High School is the largest high school in Alabama, with a student body just under 3,000. It also offers a four-year business academy with classes in accounting and entrepreneurship.

Students say the AP class is more challenging than standard courses. Because AP classes are often weighted higher, they can boost grade point averages. Sophomore Damola Kukoyi said the course helps her boost her GPA while learning a topic she loves. Senior Rachel Deschaine said the class helps her understand how people and companies interact financially. Her father owned a trucking company and her brother studies economics. She said the lessons appear in dinner table conversations.

A Federal Reserve paper found that families in states requiring financial education made better financial decisions. Those families were more likely to use pandemic stimulus checks to pay down credit card balances and refinance mortgages while rates were low. Jennifer Steele, an education professor at American University, said youth are good at using money responsibly when they are educated about it.