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AP Capstone Diploma Program Professional Learning

Learn more about required professional learning for AP Seminar and AP Research teachers.

The summer before their first year teaching AP Seminar or AP Research, AP Capstone teachers must complete a one-time, four-day AP Summer Institute.

In addition, all AP Seminar and AP Research teachers must complete online assessment scoring training during the school year—this is an annual requirement for all AP Capstone teachers that is separate from the AP Summer Institutes for new teachers. For more information about this additional training, visit the AP Seminar and AP Research professional learning pages on AP Central.

Who Should Take Part in the AP Summer Institutes?

All first-time teachers of AP Capstone courses—AP Seminar and AP Research—are required to participate.
Supporting teachers, librarians, media specialists, curriculum administrators, and district representatives may also consider participating.

How It Works

AP Summer Institutes take place over a consecutive four-day period for 30 contact hours.
Instructors who need to be trained for both AP Seminar and AP Research in the same year must attend separate AP Summer Institutes during 2 different weeks.
On completion of the four-day AP Summer Institute, attendees receive 3 continuing education credits (CEUs) from IACET (International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training). Currently, graduate credit is not awarded for participation in the AP Summer Institute.
New AP Seminar or AP Research teachers must attend the entire four-day AP Summer Institute to access the AP Course Audit, AP Digital Portfolio, AP Classroom and AP Registration and Ordering.

Please contact us with any questions.

AP Summer Institute Schedule and Registration

2024 AP Summer Institutes have now concluded. Dates and locations for 2025 AP Summer Institutes will be announced in spring 2025. AP Seminar and AP Research summer institutes will be offered in person and online.

To register, visit the AP Professional Learning Event Calendar and select the AP Research, AP Seminar, or AP Seminar English filter option in the Subject Area section of the left menu. Sessions are available on a first-come, first-served basis. If a session is full at your desired APSI host, please register for a session at the next available site. If all sessions are full, and your school does not yet have a trained AP Seminar or AP Research teacher, your school will have to defer implementation of the respective course to the following school year.

Cost

The cost for an AP Capstone Summer Institute is $1,075 per participant.

This fee includes tuition and electronic materials for the AP Summer Institute, as well as access to the online scoring training. It does not include travel, lodging, meal expenses, and incidental costs.

Schools should be aware that this fee will be incurred for AP Seminar teachers in year 1 of implementation, AP Research teachers in year 2 of implementation, and any new teachers that need training as the program expands.

Fees are subject to change annually and may vary for sessions held outside of the United States. Additional fees for late registration, registration cancellation, and/or late payment will apply.

Costs, fees, and payments for AP Summer Institutes are nontransferable and may not be applied to future workshops or training.

Fee Waivers

A limited number of AP Summer Institute tuition fee waivers may be awarded to eligible teachers who register to attend an AP Summer Institute for AP Seminar or AP Research.

To learn more about eligibility and how to apply, visit AP Summer Institute Tuition Fee Waivers.

What You’ll Learn

The AP Capstone Summer Institutes train instructors to teach college-level critical thinking and research skills while exploring academic and real-world questions, problems, and issues from different disciplines and from multiple perspectives. Special focus is given to facilitating student learning in collaborative settings while motivating students to think critically and innovatively about research questions.

The summer institute will cover:

Course goals, objectives, content, and resources
Curriculum framework of the program
Teaching strategies and best practices
Creation of course calendar, class activities, lesson plans, and formative assessments
Development of course syllabi for the AP Course Audit
Through-course and end-of-course assessments
Demonstration of AP Digital Portfolio

Workshop Logistics

AP Summer Institutes run Monday through Thursday. Start and end time varies by APSI site. Participants will be informed of the exact agenda at their chosen site prior to the start of training.

Participants are responsible for booking their own travel. Early departure cannot be accommodated; participants must attend the entire four-day training to become an authorized AP Capstone teacher.