The NCyTE Center in partnership with CodeHS has developed an Advanced Placement® (AP) high school course curriculum that melds together computer science and cybersecurity in a single introductory course. College Board has reviewed and endorsed “AP Computer Science Principles: Cybersecurity,” a web-based curriculum that high school teachers can access through a free teacher account on CodeHS.com.

High school students who take the course will explore all the requirements of AP Computer Science Principles with an emphasis on cybersecurity applications in Javascript. As a curriculum endorsed by College Board, AP Computer Science Principles: Cybersecurity includes a preapproved syllabus, lesson plans, instruction supports, and professional development to help prepare teachers to teach AP CSP.

According to College Board, more than 950 colleges and universities offer credit, advanced placement, or both for qualifying scores on the AP CSP exam, thus allowing high schools students to progress more rapidly in their chosen program of study through the ability to earn college credit while still engaged in secondary education. In 2020, over 116,000 students took the AP CSP exam—more than double the number of exam takers in the course’s first year, and a 21% increase over the previous year.

See Course on CodeHS

The material in AP CSP: Cybersecurity is based upon work supported by the NCyTE Center and the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1548315, Catalyzing Computing and Cybersecurity in Community Colleges (C5).