Connect AP to Majors and Careers

Accounting majors learn how to gather, record, analyze, interpret, and communicate information about an individual’s or organization’s financial performance and risks.

If you're a big baseball fan, you know that keeping track of how well your favorite team plays and predicting how it will do in the future is part of the fun. In businesses, government agencies, and nonprofits, accountants often engage in very similar activity.

Not simply bean counters, accountants analyze financial information and consult with upper management about important business decisions. Of course, some accountants also keep the books, recording every financial transaction.

As an agricultural engineering major, you’ll learn how to use science to improve the production, processing, storage, and distribution of food, timber, fiber, and renewable energy sources while protecting the environment.

Could the earth run out of earth? It doesn’t seem possible, but it takes thousands of years for soil to develop. This means that soil is practically a nonrenewable resource. Meanwhile, soil is being worn out by farming, polluted by chemicals, and eroded by wind and water.

If this concerns you, you’re not alone. Some agricultural engineers come up with farming practices that use soil more efficiently. Others help farmers by designing power systems, tools, and storage space. Still others look for ways to ensure food safety during processing. Thanks to agricultural engineering, farmers are getting better at producing safe food more efficiently while protecting the environment and using natural resources wisely.

American studies majors look closely at the United States and its people from a variety of angles.

As a young and incredibly diverse nation, the United States is considered by many to be a work in progress. American studies majors explore the colorful canvas of the United States, often asking what it means to be American.

If you choose this major, you’ll study everything from the novels, music, and film of the United States to its politics, economy, and history. You’ll even investigate primary sources such as the letters of a Civil War soldier or the oral histories of the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles.

Aviation management and operations majors learn the business and management skills they’ll need to run the complex activities of the aviation industry.

Airports are often compared to beehives because they’re so busy. Aviation management majors learn management principles that keep these active places, as well as airlines, running safely and smoothly. They study everything from hiring employees to meeting government security regulations to making sure passenger luggage gets to the right place.

This program prepares students to plan, organize, direct, and control an organization's activities.

With the creation of large factories in the late 1800s came the need to manage large groups of workers. In his 1911 book The Principles of Scientific Management, Frederick Winslow Taylor addressed that need. He suggested that each worker be trained to do a single task with no wasted effort. His philosophy made such a big impact on the business world that it was nicknamed Taylorism and is still studied today.

Of course, there’s a lot of disagreement about Taylorism: some people argue that it's inhumane, while others celebrate the increased productivity it has led to. As a student in business management, you’ll add your voice to this debate and others like it.

This major prepares students to organize communities for social action. Students learn how to serve as links between community groups and public agencies, and how to give information, instruction, and help to community members.

The history of community organizing as we know it today began in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. That's when college-educated young people set up settlement houses in midwestern and East Coast cities.

Settlement houses provided services, such as child care and English language classes, to the great numbers of people who needed them urgently. They were mostly immigrants working in low-wage jobs such as meat packing and garment making. Some settlement-house organizations also advocated for workers, urging government to take action and improve housing or create child labor laws, for example.

Economics majors learn about economic theory, economic systems such as capitalism, and mathematical methods. They use their knowledge to analyze how limited resources are made, traded, and used.

As the old song says, money makes the world go 'round. However, without the proper knowledge, it’s difficult to figure out exactly how.

Economics majors learn to decode the systems behind what can often appear impossible to understand. They study economic models and theories to analyze how the seemingly simple acts of buying and selling can be complicated by factors such as taxes, interest rates, inflation, labor disagreements, and even the weather.

Education majors study how people learn and how to best teach them. Classes cover such topics as educational psychology, school health and safety issues, and the planning of classroom activities.

Do you find yourself reading stories to younger kids or organizing games for your cousins at the family picnic? Do you feel proud when you've explained a difficult math problem to a friend and his face lights up with understanding?

If you major in education, you’ll develop your talents into the skills every teacher needs. You’ll find out how to set up and manage a classroom, design and teach inspiring lessons, and help students succeed no matter what their age, background, or learning style.

Finance majors learn how to make financial decisions for organizations. Course work covers such topics as planning, raising funds, making wise investments, and controlling costs.

The field of finance is largely about helping businesses and other organizations make money. But there's more to that task than meets the eye. As a finance major, you'll learn how to plan for the long term. It’s not enough for a company to be ahead of the pack today -- it has to be successful five, ten, even twenty years down the line.

Managing finances with the future in mind means answering tough questions like these: Can we afford to give employees a raise? Can we spend less on raw materials this year? Is it better to rent or buy office space?

Geography majors study how space on the earth’s surface is placed and used. Students who concentrate on physical geography focus on the land itself, studying such topics as climate, soil, and water. Cultural, or human, geography explores the relationship between people and the land.

If you think geography is all about staring at maps and memorizing state capitols, you couldn’t be more wrong. As a geography major, you’ll study a wide variety of subjects: deserts in the making, the causes of racially segregated housing, the paths of tornados, and the way international trade agreements affect business in a small town. 

As one senior geography major put it, “What we study is how the world works. Is there anything more important or more engaging than that?”

This program prepares students to provide insurance and risk management services to people, businesses, and other organizations.

Let's say a car company employee hurts her hand on the assembly line. Insurance helps pay for the costs of her lost wages, hospital bills, and so forth. But insurance companies and other businesses want to keep costs down by preventing such accidents in the first place.

This prevention is called risk management -- it’s another way that insurance companies protect against loss and harm. If you major in insurance, you'll learn about helping companies create safe working conditions as well as other aspects of risk management. Classes cover everything from health insurance to pension planning.

International business majors learn how to think globally about the business world. They also learn how to manage multinational businesses and turn local and national companies into international success stories.

Do you want to travel and explore other countries? Are you fascinated by foreign cultures? Maybe you’ve got an idea for a T-shirt that would sell great in China. Or maybe you know of a Swedish recipe that restaurant diners in your hometown would gobble up.

Thinking globally -- and understanding how to bring different cultures together -- is the first step in understanding international business.

Students of labor and industrial relations explore the history, contributions, and problems of working people as well as their relations with employers. Instruction also covers management theory and practice.

It’s no secret that a downturn in the economy affects employees all over the country. But what legal rights do employees have during a recession? Are they still entitled to health care benefits and unemployment insurance? What about worker’s compensation?

Students of labor and industrial relations study employment issues like these so that they’ll be ready to manage personnel issues for a business, union, or other organization. Their studies are interdisciplinary, including courses in everything from psychology to economics.

Marketing majors learn how to create and sell new products and services in ways that will build a large and loyal group of customers.

When Barbie first came onto the scene in 1958, she was unique. Unlike the other dolls on store shelves, Barbie was no child. And playing with her, young girls for generations have acted out visions of their future. Barbie is more than just a plastic doll; she's a fantasy.

As Barbie shows, when people make a purchase, they buy more than a product or service. They also buy something that's harder to put your finger on. Marketing majors learn how to discover the special something that people want and how to convince them that their product has it.

Math majors study quantities, forms, and symbolic logic in such subjects as algebra, geometry, calculus, logic, topology, and number theory.

Most of us are comfortable using everyday math -- when we go shopping, for example. But higher level math, such as calculus, may seem mysterious, a completely unfamiliar language. As a math major, you’ll study this language and learn how to use it to describe the world. You’ll explore calculus, modern algebra, and other high-level math in the purest light.

If you love to solve math problems just to know the answer and enjoy using abstract concepts to discover whether something is true or false, this could be the major for you.

Students in this major learn to plan, develop, manage, and choose between programs that protect natural areas and natural resources, such as trees and water.

As suburbs expand, they often hit the border of natural areas. And if a wildfire breaks out, disaster may follow. How can we preserve nature and protect people? Setting controlled fires to clear out dead brush and prevent bigger fires is one solution. Others feel that cutting down some trees and thinning forests is the way to go. Planning communities more carefully is another solution. Which policy would you choose?

In this major, you'll use what you learn in the life, physical, and social sciences to come up with policies that both preserve the environment and help people.

Operations management majors learn how to manage the development, production, and manufacturing of products and services. Topics of study include factory management, labor relations, and quality control.

Hamburgers didn’t become one of the world’s most popular foods just because they taste good -- although that didn’t hurt. Fast food got a big boost in 1954, when Ray Kroc franchised the McDonald brothers’ restaurants. He came up with the idea of using assembly lines to turn out cheap, identical burgers.

Operations management majors learn from success stories like Kroc’s. Their goal? To become experts on getting the best products and services to consumers as quickly and cheaply as possible.

Political science and government majors study the systems people set up to organize their societies, from neighborhoods to nations.

Politics affects the air we breathe, the schools we attend, the jobs we do, the communities we live in, and the taxes we pay. If you choose this major, you’ll learn the principles at work behind the decisions that affect every aspect of our lives.

Whether they're conservative or liberal, cynical or idealistic, one common characteristic among political science and government majors is their addiction to politics. If active engagement in the political system is for you, a political science major is a great way to get started. 

Majors in public administration study how administrators enact policy at the local, state, and federal levels.

Whether developing education programs for inner-city youth or working with residents to create a crime-fighting neighborhood watch, public administrators breathe life into public policies.

If you major in public administration, you’ll learn how they do it. You’ll build the skills it takes to bring together diverse groups -- from neighborhood associations to private businesses -- and change communities for the better.

Students of public policy analysis learn various methods for studying proposed solutions to public problems.

Should people be allowed to smoke in bars? This is just one public policy debate taking place across the globe. Legislators and other public officials must decide whether the health benefits of a smoking ban outweigh the money that bars -- and even whole cities -- could lose if smokers take their business elsewhere.

Public policy refers to all of the laws, regulations, and other programs developed by governments to solve problems. And if you major in public policy analysis, you’ll make problem solving your specialty. Along the way, you’ll grapple with some of society’s most urgent issues, such as crime, health care, and the quality of the air we breathe. 

Real estate majors learn how to develop, appraise, purchase, and sell land, houses, and buildings.

When you and your friends have game night, do you always want to play Monopoly? And once you’ve snatched up Park Place and Broadway, are you the type of player who will wheel and deal until you’ve built hotels everywhere? If so, you may want to study real estate.

Real estate professionals are the masters of buying and building property all over the world. These business people know how to make investments pay off, and once you graduate you’ll be ready to join them.

Urban studies majors use the tools of sociology, economics, and other social sciences to study city life, government, and services. If you choose this major you’ll learn how city dwellers live and behave. You’ll also study the problems they face.

Cities are loud, crowded, concrete jungles, right? But they’re also places full of energy, where great thinkers, artists, and leaders come together and give birth to new and exciting creative movements and ideas.

Urban studies majors learn what makes city culture unique and how urban areas respond to problems and events. You’ll ask yourself many questions as an urban studies major. For example: How do different neighborhoods develop their own identities? How do the buildings and the layout of a city affect its people? What happens when the need for growth clashes with the need to preserve history? How does living close together affect the way city dwellers interact?