AP Course Puts Business, Personal Finance Into 1,500 High Schools

A new Advanced Placement course has put business and personal finance on the schedule at more than 1,500 high schools this year.

The College Board created the class after surveys showed students wanted to turn their ideas into jobs. The organization also develops AP courses and administers the SAT. Hoover High School near Birmingham, Alabama, is among the first schools to teach it. The school sits in an affluent suburb, covers a campus with open green spaces, and enrolls close to 3,000 students, the largest high school in Alabama.

In Gerri Kimble's class, students sit in a semicircle and talk about what to do with paychecks from part-time jobs. Junior Darshan Parmar said he puts money into index funds, including S&P, QQQ, and VOO. He said he does the investing himself. One classmate puts 70 percent into a Roth IRA, another contributes to a 401(k), and a third buys stocks directly. The lessons cover management and money, plus political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors that affect a business. "It's a foundational piece of business that we're learning," senior Bramley Williams said.

College Board CEO David Coleman said the class grew out of student interest in AP surveys. He said business belongs with math and history as preparation for the world, and that teaching that mixes the practical with the theoretical "could not be more useful today." The course sits inside a larger shift in high school curricula. The Council for Economic Education reports 39 states require a personal finance class to graduate this year, up from 35 two years earlier. A Federal Reserve paper found families in states requiring financial education made better decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic, including paying down credit card balances and refinancing mortgages while rates were low. Jennifer Steele, a professor of education at American University, said young people handle money well once they learn how it works.

Students at Hoover High said the class carries weight in other ways. Sophomore Damola Kukoyi said it can raise a GPA and teach him about a subject he likes, and AP courses are often weighted higher than other courses. Senior Rachel Deschaine said business knowledge shows how people and companies deal with money, and she hears the lessons at the dinner table. Her father owned a trucking company and her brother studies economics. The Hoover campus also runs a four-year business academy with classes in accounting and entrepreneurship. The AP exam for the new course is scheduled for students who enroll.

Kimble asked Parmar whether his parents do the investing. Parmar said he does it himself. Kimble asked another student if he watches the markets. "Love it," she said.