U.S. Chamber and College Board Partnership

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and College Board are forging a partnership aimed at ensuring today’s high school students have the skills needed to excel in their future careers, building a stronger workforce for tomorrow.  

As the world’s largest business organization and network, the U.S. Chamber represents the collective voice of the business community which can support high schools with valuable guidance on what career skills are needed for success. Through the Advanced Placement (AP) Program, the College Board is working to provide more relevant, career-connected coursework in high school, with new course offerings that will appeal to a broad range of students. Together, the U.S. Chamber and College Board will work to create more career pathways for America’s high school students through AP courses in two in-demand fields: starting with Business Principles/Personal Finance, followed by Cybersecurity.

Introducing AP Business Principles/Personal Finance

AP CK Business Principles/Personal Finance will equip students with essential business and personal finance skills through project-based learning and case studies with real companies. The AP Program has developed a comprehensive approach to teaching business and personal finance, building on synergy between the two disciplines to improve student mastery of both.

It’s essential that all high school students have the opportunity to learn what will be presented in this course. In AP CK Business Principles/Personal Finance students will:

• Gain a deep understanding of the field of business and its role in society
• Discover how businesses create value and earn profits by meeting customer’s needs
• Learn personal finance concepts to enhance business knowledge and financial decision making

These skills are foundational to student success and for preparing our nation’s future workforce. To reflect this, students who earn a qualifying score on the AP Exam will earn a credential signifying their attainment of essential workplace-ready skills valued by employers. The partnership between the U.S. Chamber and the College Board will ensure the course reflects the most current workforce needs in business and personal finance and reaches as many students as possible. We encourage employers to recognize this evidence-based credential when hiring and urge states to make sure students can fulfill personal finance graduation requirements through AP BP/PF.

The U.S. Chamber and College Board look forward to continuing to partner on efforts to build talent pipelines to specific, in-demand careers and expand access to rigorous careers after high school.