Business class hits 1,500 schools

The College Board has introduced a new Advanced Placement course in business and personal finance. This class is now available at more than 1,500 high schools across the United States. It marks the first time the organization has offered this specific subject for the AP exam.

At Hoover High School in Birmingham, Alabama, students are applying these lessons immediately. The class sits in a semicircle around teacher Gerri Kimble. They discuss how to handle their part-time job earnings. Some students buy loaded teas or fill their gas tanks. Others direct their paychecks into investment vehicles.

Darshan Parmar, a junior at Hoover, says he invests in index funds such as the S&P 500 and QQQ. He manages these investments himself without parental intervention. Another student allocates 70 percent of their income to a Roth IRA. A third contributes to a 401(k) while a fourth buys individual stocks directly.

The course covers management and financial concepts. It also examines external factors that influence business success. These factors include political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal elements. Bramley Williams, a senior, describes the material as a foundational piece of business education.

David Coleman, CEO of the College Board, views business as a core part of the liberal arts. He argues that the subject requires constant adaptation. The College Board created the course after surveys showed students wanted to turn ideas into jobs. Coleman says the mix of practical and theoretical learning is highly useful today.

This course differs from AP economics, which is already offered at many schools. The new AP business class targets students who prefer a more practical curriculum. It aims to teach how to manage money and run operations. Students at Hoover High School say the class is challenging. They note that AP courses are often weighted higher in grade point average calculations.

Damola Kukoyi, a sophomore, says the course helps boost her GPA while teaching a topic she loves. Hoover High School is the largest high school in Alabama with nearly 3,000 students. The campus also offers a four-year business academy that includes accounting and entrepreneurship classes.

A trend toward financial education is visible across the country. Thirty-nine states now require a personal finance class for graduation. This is four more states than two years ago, according to the Council for Economic Education. A Federal Reserve paper found that families in states with these requirements made better financial decisions during the pandemic.

Those families were more likely to use stimulus checks to pay down credit card balances. They also refinanced mortgages when interest rates were low. Jennifer Steele, a professor of education at American University, says youth are good at using money responsibly when educated properly.

Rachel Deschaine, a senior at Hoover, connects classroom lessons to her family life. Her father owned a trucking company and her brother studies economics. She sees how people and companies interact financially with the world. Deschaine says understanding business opens up opportunities for anyone willing to learn how it works.