Advanced Placement exams are one of the most influential (and oft-controversial) forces shaping high schools today. That’s why it’s a big deal when AP embarks on a new direction, such as launching its newest course, AP Business with Personal Finance, which arrives this fall. College Board CEO David Coleman hopes this new offering will foster financial literacy, career readiness, and an appreciation for America’s entrepreneurial economy. Coleman is a guy who gravitates toward big ideas. He was instrumental in developing the Common Core State Standards before taking the reins of the College Board in 2012. Time has named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people. I reached out to talk about this new venture, career pathways, and more. Here’s what Coleman had to say.
—Rick

Rick: David, the College Board is rolling out a new Advanced Placement course this fall: AP Business with Personal Finance. Tell me about it.

David: AP Business with Personal Finance is one of two new career-focused courses we’re rolling out for the coming school year. The other is AP Cybersecurity. Both are rigorous, college-level courses that are deeply practical. In AP Business with Personal Finance, students learn how to think strategically, manage money and teams, and turn ideas into action. Students apply those same principles to their own financial lives to build real confidence and economic agency. I see business as a new liberal art for our time. Whatever students’ interests, understanding business and personal finance gives them the tools to bring their passion into the world. Success in business and in life requires constantly adapting to change. Students and families everywhere are concerned about job losses from AI; this course gives them the confidence they need to adapt to a changing future.

Rick: How’d the idea for this course come about?

David: We’ve been developing this course with employers and colleges for the better part of three years. Students everywhere want to know how to make money and keep it, and business is the most popular college major. Yet, just 20 percent of U.S. students take a business course in high school. Students and families demand stronger preparation in personal finance, yet access to quality personal finance education remains uneven. All students need to know how to manage money wisely, how to save and invest, and how to make sound long-term decisions. AP Business with Personal Finance merges those two interests—entrepreneurship and financial capability—while giving students a credential of value for employers and colleges.

Rick: How will this course differ from AP Economics?

David: It’s more akin to a business school course on entrepreneurship and financial management. We think many students will begin in AP Business with Personal Finance and go on to take an AP economics course. Combining business and personal finance in one course unlocks a different level of engagement. Students don’t just want to know how markets work in the abstract; they want to know how to manage their financial resources and build something. At a time when many young people feel disengaged, let’s engage them in building their future.

Rick: You’re familiar with conservative criticisms of the AP program, including concerns that it’s become easier to pass the AP exams and that courses reflect a progressive bent. Without relitigating all that here, I am curious how such considerations might’ve factored into course development and what you’d say to those who might look skeptically at this new offering. Thoughts on that?

David: To anyone who’s worried about the rigor or content of our courses: Go see for yourself. Visit an AP classroom in any state in the country. Ask a high schooler which of their classes push them the hardest. Talk to an AP teacher about the material they cover. These are among the most engaging and challenging courses you’ll find in any high school in America, which is why so many students and families want to take them and so many educators want to teach them. We built AP Business with Personal Finance to meet the same standard. The course and exam were designed by college business professors from MIT, Northwestern, and Vanderbilt, to name a few. It will demand sharp thinking, hard work, and creativity, and students will come away from it with college-level skills and knowledge they’ll use throughout their lives.

Rick: Any sense of how widely the course will be adopted?

David: We think there’s a place for a course like this in every high school in America. Business and entrepreneurship are always near the top of the list of AP subjects students most want to see. It’s been endorsed by the Council for Economic Education, which sets the national standards for personal finance education, and we’ve designed it to meet state requirements for a high school class on personal finance. We also want this to be an invitation to first-time AP students and to schools that may not have offered a lot of AP options before, like those in rural communities. The course includes case studies on rural small businesses so students can see what entrepreneurship looks like in a local context. Too often, we see AP programs that become walled gardens, with the same small number of students taking most of the advanced courses at a school. We have to break that pattern.

Rick: What kinds of topics will be addressed?

David: The course focuses on core concepts in first-year undergraduate business courses—finance, accounting, marketing, strategy, and management—while integrating personal finance topics and skills throughout the class. What’s powerful is how those two sides of the course reinforce each other. Students might analyze return on investment when deciding how to grow a business, then apply that thinking to their own financial decisions. It’s designed so students can apply what they’re learning in the real world. Students will build a business plan and a family financial plan, read case studies, and practice leading teams. They will give shape to an idea or a dream. We want to show students that education gives you the power to accomplish things.

Rick: You’re a guy who thinks carefully about potential problems. With this new offering, what challenges will be on your mind as you watch it roll out?

David: If the only kids signing up are those who are already in AP, we’ll see that as a failure. We’re using multiple strategies to reach new students, including by forging new partnerships with organizations like DECA, Business Professionals of America, and Future Business Leaders of America, and by engaging more deeply than ever with the CTE community. At the same time, we also know that by inviting new students in, we may draw criticism from those who would prefer a highly elite and exclusive AP program. They’ll say AP isn’t what it used to be. That’s short-sighted snobbery. Research shows the students who benefit most from AP are those who go from taking zero AP courses to taking just one. Let’s put more students in that category. There’s more talent than we can see today.

Rick: You’ve argued that financial literacy is as essential as civic literacy when preparing students for citizenship. What do you mean by that?

David: American greatness stems not just from our Constitution and our government but from the resourcefulness of our people. We are a nation built by entrepreneurs. Just as you need to understand government to be a confident citizen in a democracy, you need to understand business and personal finance to be a confident participant in a dynamic economy. Economic confidence is life confidence. You need it to make big choices, like pursuing a new job, launching a venture, or starting a family. Too many young people delay those decisions because they don’t feel economically secure. Education cannot solve every cost-of-living challenge, but it can replace fear with understanding and give students the tools to choose their future on their own terms.

Rick: You’re making this case at a time when Gen Z is voicing distrust with capitalism and big business. Does that make it an awkward time to launch this course?

David: It makes it the perfect time! I’m deeply troubled by how pessimistic many young people feel about their prospects for achieving financial security. In poll after poll, Americans say the American Dream no longer works—that hard work may not pay off. Our economic thriving depends on a generation of Americans who see business and entrepreneurship as healthy ways to build a meaningful life. But our students won’t have faith in markets if they feel powerless to participate. Students are growing up in a world of content creation; let’s give them the tools of wealth creation.

Rick: There’s much interest in career readiness and employer partnerships. Where do you see the College Board’s—and this course’s—role in that conversation?

David: The College Board has always had a unique position spanning K–12 and higher education, helping align those sectors for the benefit of students. Now, employers must take on a similar role. For too long, schools and employers have been disconnected, with too few shared definitions of skills and poor feedback loops. We’re working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and employers like IBM, Cisco, Nissan, and Provalus to help shape courses and credentials that reflect in-demand competencies. For example, Provalus, an IT services company that hires talent from rural communities to serve major national firms, is endorsing our AP Cybersecurity course as a signal of workforce readiness. We want to give students skills that carry currency beyond the classroom.

Rick: More generally, any thoughts on the tension between college-track coursework and CTE-aligned coursework in high school?

David: Let’s abandon the stupid and unproductive separation of college or career. We must build coursework and assessments that prepare students well for both. Kids should never have to choose between being educated and being employable.

Rick: You’re in the business of gauging college and career readiness. How has that changed in the age of AI?

David: AI has reinforced the core value of what we do: delivering rigorous, secure, fully proctored assessments of what students have learned. On an SAT or AP exam, you can’t rely on a chatbot. Trusted assessments matter more than ever, which is why we are investing heavily in advanced security and technical improvements to ensure our assessments always provide credible reflections of what students know. More broadly, we are building tools and guidance that promote the safe and responsible use of AI, ensuring it powers learning rather than short-circuits it. We’re constantly learning from AP teachers about how they’re navigating AI in the classroom. They are clear that the core skills emphasized in AP—interrogating sources and mastering background knowledge—are even more vital as students wade through questionable AI content. We did not abandon math because of the calculator and we will not abandon reading and writing because of large language models.

Rick: If you had one piece of advice on preparing students to be financially literate citizens, what would it be?

David: Take students’ interest in money seriously and use it to open doors to students who have never been in AP before. As I said, students everywhere want to learn how to make money and how to keep it. School leaders should channel that energy into rigorous learning about how the economy works, how value is created, and how financial decisions shape a life. Personal finance should be an invitation for all students to become builders of our economy, not just bystanders.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.