How many AP classes are there? The full list for 2026

The College Board currently offers 42 AP courses for the 2026-27 school year (verified against apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses on 2026-09-28), with AP Networking piloting in 2026-27 alongside them. AP Networking launches nationally in Fall 2027, at which point the catalog total rises to 43.

The 42 includes 38 courses across the six subject categories (35 with an end-of-course exam, plus three portfolio-assessed Art and Design courses), plus AP Research and AP Seminar (part of the AP Capstone program), and the two AP Career Kickstart courses that launched Fall 2026 (Business with Personal Finance and Cybersecurity, first exam May 2027). AP Networking (pilot 2026-27, national launch Fall 2027, first exam May 2028) is not yet included in the 42.

The number moves as the College Board adds courses. Before this piece was written, Precalculus launched nationwide in 2023-24 and African American Studies followed in 2024-25. If you're planning a schedule, check apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses at the point of planning; a course listed there is one you can request from your school.

The College Board groups its AP courses into eight categories. The complete list, with each subject named as it appears in College Board materials:

AP 2-D Art and Design. AP 3-D Art and Design. AP Drawing. AP Art History. AP Music Theory.

The three studio art courses (2-D, 3-D, Drawing) replaced the earlier AP Studio Art program in a 2019-20 restructuring. Each is assessed through a portfolio rather than a written exam.

AP English Language and Composition. AP English Literature and Composition. Different courses, different exams, different focuses: Language centers on nonfiction and rhetorical analysis; Literature centers on prose fiction, poetry, and drama.

AP African American Studies. AP Comparative Government and Politics. AP European History. AP Human Geography. AP Macroeconomics. AP Microeconomics. AP Psychology. AP United States Government and Politics. AP United States History. AP World History: Modern.

African American Studies moved to full nationwide availability in 2024-25 after a multi-year pilot. Macro and Micro are separate exams; you don't get one from the other.

AP Calculus AB. AP Calculus BC. AP Computer Science A. AP Computer Science Principles. AP Precalculus. AP Statistics.

Calculus BC covers everything AB does plus additional topics (series, parametric equations, polar coordinates). Computer Science A is a programming-heavy course centered on Java; Computer Science Principles is broader and covers computational thinking more than syntax.

AP Biology. AP Chemistry. AP Environmental Science. AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based. AP Physics 2: Algebra-Based. AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism. AP Physics C: Mechanics.

The four physics courses are distinct. Physics 1 and 2 are algebra-based and cover different content (mechanics and fluids in 1; thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, optics, waves and modern physics in 2). Physics C: Mechanics and Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism are calculus-based and taken by students who've completed or are taking calculus.

AP Chinese Language and Culture. AP French Language and Culture. AP German Language and Culture. AP Italian Language and Culture. AP Japanese Language and Culture. AP Latin. AP Spanish Language and Culture. AP Spanish Literature and Culture.

Spanish is the only language with two separate AP courses (Language and Culture, and Literature and Culture). The rest are single Language and Culture courses, with Latin as the classical-language exception.

AP Seminar. AP Research.

These are the project-based courses. AP Research has no end-of-year exam. AP Seminar combines through-course performance tasks with an end-of-course exam. Both are scored on the same 1 to 5 scale. Take both and score 3 or higher in each, then earn 3 or higher on four additional AP exams of your choice, and you qualify for the AP Capstone Diploma.

AP Business with Personal Finance (launched Fall 2026, first exam May 2027). AP Cybersecurity (launched Fall 2026, first exam May 2027). AP Networking (pilot 2026-27, national launch Fall 2027, first exam May 2028).

These are the newest additions, launched under the AP Career Kickstart banner as workforce-oriented AP pathways. Rollout is happening in stages, so availability at your school depends on whether it's opted in. Check apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-career-kickstart for the current status if you're planning around them.

You'll sometimes see older or different counts quoted (such as 38 or 40). They usually reflect an earlier catalogue or count only exams rather than courses.

About 36 AP subjects had an end-of-course exam in 2025. The 2025 administration reached 6,182,171 exams taken by 3,243,979 students across 23,664 schools (source: College Board, Annual AP Program Participation 1956-2025).

42 is the current total number of AP courses for 2026-27, which includes the two AP Capstone courses (AP Research has no end-of-year exam; AP Seminar combines performance tasks with an end-of-course exam) plus the two AP Career Kickstart courses that launched Fall 2026. AP Networking, piloting in 2026-27 ahead of a Fall 2027 national launch, is not yet counted in the 42; it will bring the total to 43 once it launches nationally.

AP Precalculus launched nationwide in the 2023-24 school year. In its first national exam in May 2024, 75.6% of students scored 3 or higher and about 26% earned a 5. In 2026 those figures were 82% and 29% (source: apstudents.collegeboard.org score distributions). It fills the gap between Algebra 2 and Calculus AB and is designed for students preparing for future STEM or business coursework.

AP African American Studies followed on a similar rollout: pilot cohorts began in 2022-23, expanded in 2023-24, and the course became nationally available with a first national exam in 2024-25. It sits in the History and Social Sciences category.

AP Career Kickstart (Business with Personal Finance, Cybersecurity, and Networking) is the newer initiative, aimed at giving students AP-level pathways into careers that don't necessarily require a four-year degree. Availability varies by school and by state.

AP Seminar and AP Research together form the AP Capstone program. Seminar is typically taken first (often sophomore or junior year); it teaches research methods, team collaboration, and presentation skills. Research follows; students complete an individual academic paper of around 4,000 to 5,000 words plus a defense.

Both are scored on the standard 1 to 5 AP scale, but the scoring components are different from an exam-based AP. Seminar scores blend a team project, an individual research-based essay, and an end-of-course exam. Research scores blend the academic paper with an oral defense.

The AP Capstone Diploma is awarded to students who earn 3 or higher on both Seminar and Research plus 3 or higher on four additional AP exams. It's a distinctive credential; many colleges view it as evidence of research and writing skills that a standard AP schedule doesn't show as directly.

The AP catalog changes slowly, but it does change. AP Studio Art was restructured in 2019-20 into three separate portfolio courses: AP 2-D Art and Design, AP 3-D Art and Design, and AP Drawing. If you see a reference to AP Studio Art in older college credit policies, that's the source.

A handful of courses have been retired over the decades (AP Computer Science AB was discontinued back in 2009, for example), but the current 42-course catalog (rising to 43 in Fall 2027) reflects an era of expansion rather than contraction; the College Board has been adding courses more than removing them.

Each AP course has an official Course and Exam Description (CED) published by the College Board. The CED is the source of truth for what's on the exam and how it's scored. You can find every CED linked from that subject's page at apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses.

For exam dates, the full 2027 AP exam schedule breaks down the calendar week by week. For the mechanics of raw-to-composite scoring, how AP exams are scored walks through the process. And if you're deciding whether a specific course is right for you, our AP subject guides (like AP Biology notes and AP Psychology notes) cover what's on the syllabus and how to prep.