Important Updates
Now Available: AP Daily Video Lessons
AP teachers and students can now access short, on-demand AP Daily video lessons in AP Classroom, alongside other free resources including topic questions, personal progress checks, the progress dashboard, and your question bank. View full release schedule.
Course Overview
AP Macroeconomics is an introductory college-level macroeconomics course. Students cultivate their understanding of the principles that apply to an economic system as a whole by using principles and models to describe economic situations and predict and explain outcomes with graphs, charts, and data as they explore concepts like economic measurements, markets, macroeconomic models, and macroeconomic policies.
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AP Macroeconomics Course at a Glance
Excerpted from the AP Macroeconomics Course and Exam Description, the Course at a Glance document outlines the topics and skills covered in the AP Macroeconomics course, along with suggestions for sequencing.
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AP Macroeconomics Course and Exam Description
This is the core document for this course. Unit guides clearly lay out suggested thematic course content and skills and recommend sequencing and pacing for them throughout the year. The CED was updated in the summer of 2020 to include scoring guidelines for the example questions.
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AP Macroeconomics CED Scoring Guidelines
This document details how each of the sample free-response questions in the course and exam description (CED) would be scored. This information is now in the online CED but was not included in the binders teachers received in 2019.
Course Content
Based on the Understanding by Design® (Wiggins and McTighe) model, the course framework provides a clear and detailed description of the course requirements necessary for student success. The framework specifies what students must know, be able to do, and understand, with a focus on big ideas that encompass core principles and theories of the discipline. The framework also encourages instruction that prepares students for advanced economics coursework.
The AP Macroeconomics framework is organized into six commonly taught units of study that provide one possible sequence for the course. As always, you have the flexibility to organize the course content as you like.
Unit |
Exam Weighting (Multiple-Choice Section) |
| Unit 1: Basic Economic Concepts | 5%–10% |
| Unit 2: Economic Indicators and the Business Cycle | 12%–17% |
| Unit 3: National Income and Price Determination | 17%–27% |
| Unit 4: Financial Sector | 18%–23% |
| Unit 5: Long-Run Consequences of Stabilization Policies | 20%–30% |
| Unit 6: Open Economy—International Trade and Finance | 10%–13% |
Course Skills
The AP Macroeconomics framework included in the course and exam description outlines distinct skills that students should practice throughout the year—skills that will help them learn to think and act like economists.
Skill |
Description |
| 1. Principles and Models | Define economic principles and models. |
| 2. Interpretation | Explain given economic outcomes. |
| 3. Manipulation | Determine outcomes of specific economic situations. |
| 4. Graphing and Visuals | Model economic situations using graphs or visual representations. |
AP and Higher Education
Higher education professionals play a key role developing AP courses and exams, setting credit and placement policies, and scoring student work. The AP Higher Education site features information on recruitment and admission, advising and placement, and more.
This chart shows recommended scores for granting credit, and how much credit should be awarded, for each AP course. Your students can look up credit and placement policies for colleges and universities on the AP Credit Policy Search.
Meet the Development Committee for AP Macroeconomics.