College Board and the Council for Economic Education Partner to Bring High-Quality Personal Finance and Business Education to High Schools Nationwide

At a time when nearly a quarter of millennials spend more money than they earn and 67% have less than 3 months’ worth of emergency savings, College Board and the Council for Economic Education (CEE) announced today a partnership to elevate personal finance and business learning through the new AP Business with Personal Finance course.  

This collaboration unites CEE’s leadership on standards-based financial and economic literacy with the rigor and reach of the College Board’s Advanced Placement^® (AP^®) coursework. Together, they will deliver a college-level, standards-aligned course supported by a jointly developed syllabus, high-quality teacher resources, and a campaign to expand access to financial literacy to students nationwide.  

“This partnership represents a significant step forward in expanding high-quality financial and economic education nationwide,” said Steve Bumbaugh, chief executive officer of CEE. “By aligning CEE’s standards-based expertise with the College Board’s proven ability to deliver rigorous coursework at scale, we are ensuring that more students have access to the knowledge and skills that underpin long-term financial stability. Together, we are raising the bar for what effective financial education can look like in American high schools.” 

“Personal finance education is critical to providing young people with the skills they need to manage a budget, pay their bills, and avoid the quicksand of credit card debt,” said Trevor Packer, head of the AP Program. “By combining high-quality business and personal finance instruction, students will gain the knowledge to bring new ideas to life and the skills to chart their own future. CEE’s endorsement of AP Business with Personal Finance shows that the course can give every student the opportunity to graduate high school with the financial and economic literacy that’s essential to prosper in today’s world.” 

Launching in the 2026-27 school year, AP Business with Personal Finance teaches workforce-ready skills that prepare students for careers in a range of businesses—from local start-ups to multinational corporations—as well as the critical life skills needed to manage their personal finances. As a college-level business course, it qualifies students for college credit in the most popular major in the U.S., while its alignment with CEE’s National Standards for Personal Financial Education provides a coherent, structured way to teach personal finance within a broader, full-year course.  

“The most important takeaway for me is financial literacy,” said Joziah, a student who participated in the AP Business with Personal Finance field test. “Everyone needs to understand finance, because no matter who you are, you’ll have to deal with money. Whether it’s buying a home, getting a car, or just handling everyday expenses, this course really prepares you for that.” 

The project-based design of AP Business with Personal Finance lets students develop real-world skills through competition-ready projects and a personal finance project where they act as a financial advisor to a family planning for future goals. The pace of the course will be supported with a 180-day syllabus that incorporates free lesson plans and instructional resources to ensure the personal finance content is taught thoroughly, with 50 class periods dedicated to standalone personal finance concepts.  

The course also embeds key financial topics across 35 class periods focused jointly on parallel business topics, ensuring that students learn vital personal finance skills both independently and in the context of business decision making. Flexible components will allow teachers to tailor the syllabus to meet additional state and local personal finance standards. Research shows that when students learn content in this way, their learning is deeper and more durable.  

College Board and CEE will also partner to make strong instructional resources available to ensure educators are ready to teach AP Business with Personal Finance effectively. College Board provides grants for free tuition for virtual and in-person AP Summer Institutes for all new AP teachers and current AP teachers who will be instructing new courses.  
 

About the Council for Economic Education 

The Council for Economic Education’s (CEE’s) mission is to equip K–12 students with the tools and knowledge of personal finance and economics so that they can make better decisions for themselves, their families and their communities. We carry out our mission in three ways. We advocate to require financial and economic education in every state. We provide training, tools and resources — online and live through over 180 affiliates nationwide — to more than 40,000 teachers annually, who in turn bring the highest quality economics and personal finance instruction to over 4 million students. We deepen knowledge and introduce high school students to critical career capabilities through our national competitions and Invest in Girls program.