The College Board adds Business and Cybersecurity
to help students thrive in the real world.
For decades, high school students have taken classes to prepare for college — algebra, biology, literature, U.S. history — but far too often, they graduate without knowing how to create a budget, avoid identity theft, or understand how a business works.
That’s finally changing.
The College Board just announced two new Advanced Placement (AP) courses that are relevant to students’ futures: AP Business Principles with Personal Finance and AP Cybersecurity. Both are designed to give students practical skills and to be prepared for life.
“Students need more than test prep — they need life prep.”
Financial Literacy: A Must for Every Teen
AP Business with Personal Finance will cover key topics like entrepreneurship, investment basics, economic systems, and — most importantly — how to manage money.
Right now, fewer than half of American high school students are required to take a financial literacy course before graduating. That means most teens enter adulthood without understanding how credit works, how to save for emergencies, or how to avoid falling into debt.
This AP course will give students the tools to take control of their financial lives early — before the mistakes begin piling up. They’ll learn about loans, taxes, savings, and how to navigate the real-world financial systems they’ll encounter the moment they turn 18.
Cybersecurity: Essential for Everyone
The second new course, AP Cybersecurity, covers how to protect sensitive information and recognize threats like phishing scams, malware, and identity theft. Whether students go into tech, business, healthcare, education, or the arts, they’ll all need to understand how to protect themselves from cyber threats.
This class will teach students how cybersecurity works and why it matters — not just at the personal level, but globally. In an era of increasing digital risk, cybersecurity has become a fundamental part of being an informed, responsible citizen.
It’s About Career AND College
While most AP courses are seen as stepping stones to college, these two also build career-readiness.
AP Business helps students develop leadership, collaboration, problem-solving, and communication skills — qualities every employer looks for. Cybersecurity fosters analytical thinking, precision, and digital fluency.
Together, these courses do more than boost a GPA. They provide practical, hands-on experience with real-world challenges and prepare students for fields that are growing fast and in need of skilled workers.
Equal Access to Critical Knowledge
What’s especially exciting is the potential for equity.
Financial literacy and cybersecurity aren’t taught at home for everyone — and yet they’re essential for everyone. These new AP courses ensure that all students, regardless of background or zip code, can build the knowledge and confidence to make smart decisions in their adult lives.
This kind of curriculum levels the playing field and opens doors to careers many students might never have considered.
What Schools Need to Do Next
It’s now up to schools to offer these courses and support students who enroll in them. That means training teachers, making space in student schedules, and encouraging all types of learners to give these classes a try — not just the “AP kids.”
Parents can help by asking their schools to offer these classes and helping their teens see the long-term value of understanding money and technology.
College prep is still important, but preparing students for life is even more so.
The College Board adds Business and Cybersecurity
to help students thrive in the real world.
For decades, high school students have taken classes to prepare for college — algebra, biology, literature, U.S. history — but far too often, they graduate without knowing how to create a budget, avoid identity theft, or understand how a business works.
That’s finally changing.
The College Board just announced two new Advanced Placement (AP) courses that are relevant to students’ futures: AP Business Principles with Personal Finance and AP Cybersecurity. Both are designed to give students practical skills and to be prepared for life.
“Students need more than test prep — they need life prep.”
Financial Literacy: A Must for Every Teen
AP Business with Personal Finance will cover key topics like entrepreneurship, investment basics, economic systems, and — most importantly — how to manage money.
Right now, fewer than half of American high school students are required to take a financial literacy course before graduating. That means most teens enter adulthood without understanding how credit works, how to save for emergencies, or how to avoid falling into debt.
This AP course will give students the tools to take control of their financial lives early — before the mistakes begin piling up. They’ll learn about loans, taxes, savings, and how to navigate the real-world financial systems they’ll encounter the moment they turn 18.
Cybersecurity: Essential for Everyone
The second new course, AP Cybersecurity, covers how to protect sensitive information and recognize threats like phishing scams, malware, and identity theft. Whether students go into tech, business, healthcare, education, or the arts, they’ll all need to understand how to protect themselves from cyber threats.
This class will teach students how cybersecurity works and why it matters — not just at the personal level, but globally. In an era of increasing digital risk, cybersecurity has become a fundamental part of being an informed, responsible citizen.
It’s About Career AND College
While most AP courses are seen as stepping stones to college, these two also build career-readiness.
AP Business helps students develop leadership, collaboration, problem-solving, and communication skills — qualities every employer looks for. Cybersecurity fosters analytical thinking, precision, and digital fluency.
Together, these courses do more than boost a GPA. They provide practical, hands-on experience with real-world challenges and prepare students for fields that are growing fast and in need of skilled workers.
Equal Access to Critical Knowledge
What’s especially exciting is the potential for equity.
Financial literacy and cybersecurity aren’t taught at home for everyone — and yet they’re essential for everyone. These new AP courses ensure that all students, regardless of background or zip code, can build the knowledge and confidence to make smart decisions in their adult lives.
This kind of curriculum levels the playing field and opens doors to careers many students might never have considered.
What Schools Need to Do Next
It’s now up to schools to offer these courses and support students who enroll in them. That means training teachers, making space in student schedules, and encouraging all types of learners to give these classes a try — not just the “AP kids.”
Parents can help by asking their schools to offer these classes and helping their teens see the long-term value of understanding money and technology.
College prep is still important, but preparing students for life is even more so.
Hmm. Another reason that schools should not censor topics covered in American school classes.
Leaving politics aside, there’s been a rash of discussion, and even legislation, around what should and should NOT be taught in classrooms from kindergarten to high school. You’ve heard it all. World Religions? Civil rights (racism)? Jim Crow laws? Gender identification?
Now the College Board (the organization that administers the SATs and certifies AP Courses) has issued a warning to schools that remove historical or other relevant content from their AP courses may lose their license to teach those courses.
So students who take courses where teachers are forced to remove specific content from their lectures and presentation may lose their right to list their AP courses on their transcripts. And even if they did take the course and the AP exam at the end of the school year, they will be at a huge disadvantage because they will not have the introduction and exposure to content included on the AP exams.
This is not new news… I remember working with students back in the 2000s who took AP Biology in parochial schools where they taught creation and not evolution (science). This is still prevalent today. Many parents, and students, are not aware of what concepts are omitted from classroom lectures and that their children are not receiving the same curriculum content that other students are receiving. And for the past several years, teachers and schools are under pressure from religious organizations and the federal government to censor topics introduced in classrooms.
The good news: the College Board is warning against censoring AP course content and threatening that students who take these classes may lose their AP credits.
In 1994, I developed the Merit Academy K-12 curriculum to prepare our students to be leaders. Rather than censor concepts or books, I consulted with experts to include comprehensive review of controversial subjects. When students (and teachers) have the freedom to research, discuss, and examine concepts, they are better equipped to understand them and appreciate various cultures and histories.
When our students learned about ancient religions, we researched ALL 5 major world religions. They compared and contrasted religions, visited institutions to see how religions are practiced, and continued to analyze the development of these religions in today’s society. I can’t imagine censoring political or religious content from any curriculum.
Seems like we’re heading towards a dystopian society (think: Ray Bradbury’s book Fahrenheit 451) where books are banned.