College Board Announces Three New AP Courses

The College Board recently announced three new courses set to launch for all schools in the 2026-2027 school year.

Two of these courses are part of the new AP Career Kickstart program, which has been designed to prepare students for high-demand careers. This program will feature two-course pathways similar to schools’ career and technical education programs. The first Career Kickstart (CK) pathway will be the Cybersecurity pathway, which will be made up of CK Cybersecurity 1: Networking Fundamentals and CK Cybersecurity 2: Cybersecurity Fundamentals. It is intended for these courses to be taken consecutively in tenth and eleventh grade and for students to then seek out a local apprenticeship or internship in twelfth grade.

College Board states that all AP Career Kickstart courses will:

• Fit into an articulated career pathway

• Align with career and technical education standards

• Relate to workforce needs in high-growth sectors

• Offer applied, hands-on learning that builds technical, professional, and problem-solving skills

• Embed work-based learning opportunities

The third new course announced by the College Board, set to launch in the 2026-2027 school year, is AP Business Principles/Personal Finance. The purpose of this course is to “introduce students to the fields of entrepreneurship, marketing, finance, accounting, and management through real-world business application, case studies, and project based learning,” as stated by the College Board. This course will likely be able to grant credit for the economics and personal finance graduation requirement.

Back in 2022, it was announced that AP Anatomy and Physiology would launch in the Fall of 2024, but no updates have been made since. The College Board states, “we’re exploring additional courses in health sciences, information technology, and more.” It is likely that AP Anatomy and Physiology, along with more Career Kickstart pathways, will be announced soon.

The question is, which teachers at Jordan will pick up these courses?