The purpose of an AP course in Microeconomics is to provide a thorough understanding of the principles of economics that apply to the functions of individual decision makers, both consumers and producers, within the larger economic system. It places primary emphasis on the nature and functions of product markets, and includes the study of factor markets and of the role of government in promoting greater efficiency and equity in the economy.

This course develops the techniques necessary for an understanding of basic economics from a microeconomic standpoint. The specific topics explored include the concepts of scarcity (paucity), supply and demand, cost-production decision making, the operation of a firm in the product market under varying assumptions of competition, monopolistic competition, monopoly, and oligopoly, plus the operation of the firm in the factor market.