From AP Exam to Job Ready: College Board's New Career Kickstart Initiative
New initiative emphasizes industry collaboration, practical skills, and pathways to both college credit and career credentials, starting with cybersecurity and business.
The College Board is significantly expanding its traditional Advanced Placement (AP) program with the launch of AP Career Kickstart, a new initiative aimed at directly connecting high school curriculum to in-demand careers and addressing student disengagement. The program introduces new career and technical education (CTE)-focused courses, initially targeting high-growth fields like cybersecurity, networking, and business/personal finance.
A key differentiator of AP Career Kickstart is the substantial input from industry partners alongside college faculty in designing course content and scope. This collaboration seeks to ensure that students are equipped not only for higher education but also with the practical skills and credentials valued by employers.
"High schools had a crisis of relevance far before AI," stated College Board CEO David Coleman, highlighting a primary driver for the initiative. "How do we make high school relevant, engaging, and purposeful? Because [students] definitely don’t think it is. For many high school students, high school curriculum is middle school, once more with feeling." AP Career Kickstart aims to change this by making learning "relevant, engaging, and purposeful."
Initial Courses and Industry Partnerships
The first wave of AP Career Kickstart courses includes:
AP Cybersecurity (two courses): AP Cyber: Networking and AP Cyber: Security. These are currently being piloted in hundreds of U.S. high schools with a national launch planned for the 2026-27 academic year.
AP Business Principles/Personal Finance: This course is currently in field testing, also targeting a nationwide launch in 2026-27.
The program's success hinges on strong partnerships. Organizations like Amazon Web Services, IBM, U.S. Bank, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are involved in advisory capacities. A notable collaboration is with CompTIA, a leading IT certification body. Students who achieve a qualifying score on a cybersecurity pilot exam will receive a free voucher for CompTIA test preparation materials (such as CertMaster Network+ or TestOut Security Pro) and the exam for the related CompTIA certification (CompTIA Network+ or CompTIA Security+), an "estimated value of up to $350."
"College Board (CB) and CompTIA are collaborating to bring together the value of CompTIA's industry-leading certifications and College Board's AP Career Kickstart program to provide students with tools and knowledge they need to succeed in technology careers," a statement from the College Board outlined.
Charles Banks, Vice President at U.S. Bank, praised the initiative's potential: "I really like the fact that AP Career Kickstart is going to allow us to prepare the next generation of the workforce more quickly. It helps us to expand our pipeline of talent, and it gets that talent to market much faster."
Focus on Applied Learning and Teacher Support
AP Career Kickstart courses are designed to emphasize "applied, hands-on learning that builds problem-solving skills," integrate both technical and professional skills, and embed work-based learning opportunities.
Recognizing that educators may be teaching new content, especially in areas like cybersecurity, the College Board is committed to robust teacher training. This includes a 5-day AP Career Kickstart Summer Institute for pilot teachers, along with instructional supports, lesson plans, and an online teacher community.
Addressing Future Needs and Equity
The initiative is also designed to be adaptable, considering the impact of AI and the evolving job market. Course content, particularly its intersection with AI, will be reviewed for annual updates. The College Board is also exploring how students can "skillfully use AI without replacing their own skills development," while reiterating that technology will not replace the crucial role of teachers.
College Board positions Career Kickstart as a means to address equity by providing "national access to outstanding career education that today is only available in some communities." The program is also exploring future expansion into other high-demand areas like health sciences and information technology.
For students like Jessica, a 12th-grade AP Career Kickstart pilot participant, the benefits are already clear: "These courses offer me an opportunity to learn something that I can actually use in my future. I feel so much more prepared than my friends."
AP Career Kickstart aims to be more than just a new set of courses; it's a strategic effort to redefine college and career readiness by creating direct, credentialed pathways from high school to high-growth jobs, while still offering the established benefits of AP college credit.