The College Board is adding two new AP courses to its 70-year-old program. The goal is to respond to a changing industry, job market demand, as well as ways to best prepare students whether or not they plan to attend college. Not only is the College Board introducing new cybersecurity and business courses, it is also tailoring classes to include AI and has partnered with employers for the first time. The new AP courses are set to launch in the 2026-27 school year.
Making space for artificial intelligence in the education system
The College Board was prompted to make these new changes to respond to high school students’ concerns regarding the content of their classes. David Coleman, the College Board’s CEO, said students have been disengaged from classes they feel do not prepare them adequately for their future. AI has also posed a new challenge regarding learning.
“High schools had a crisis of relevance far before AI,” Coleman told EdWeek. “cSome courses such as AP Seminar may allow students to use AI and “might be judged on whether they’ve effectively used it to advance their work,” Coleman said. However, timed assessment would not include this tool to counterbalance learning.
“I think that interplay is essential for advancement in the AI world,” he said, per another EdWeek report. “We always want the check and balance of what can you do with it and what can you do without it, to see what you’re gaining separately from [the course].”
The new AP courses are in collaboration with employers
The new AP courses were developed in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the technology company IBM.
“Our aim is to have employers recognize the value of [the coursework], when you’re applying to internships or apprenticeships or when you’re on the job,” Coleman said about the importance of involving employers and not just higher education institutions in courses offered in high school.
Neil Bradley, an executive vice president and chief policy officer at the Chamber of Commerce, said the course will help students already have useful skills out of high school.
“This course is going to give people a leg up both when they’re applying for jobs, and then once they get the job, whether they have a college degree or whether they’ve gone straight in into the workforce, because they’ll just have a basic understanding of how businesses in general operate,” he said. “Those are skills that can be taken to virtually any workplace and would be found valuable.”
In the business course, students will work in teams to develop a business plan and simulate a role of financial adviser for households with different income levels and goals. In the cybersecurity course, students who pass the class assessment can earn a voucher for test preparation and exam fees in order to take the CompTIA exam, an industry-recognized assessment.
