Certified Financial Planner??? FSU or Kaplan Colleges

Hi, I'm new to this board and recently graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in Legal Studies. I have been looking at getting certified as a CFP. Does anyone have any info on either of these two institutions? I would appreciate any help I could get at this early stage. Thanks.

Raj.

 

I have a little knowledge in this area since, at one time, I worked in insurance and taught the prelicensing course to take the state exam.

Were I you; and I'm not, I would choose either the ChFC from American College in Bryn Myar, PA or the CFP from the organization in Denver, I believe it is the School for Financial Planning.

These are the two that are accepted in the world of investments and insurance.



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Howard Rodgers

 

Howard was close, it's the College for Financial Planning, and they do offer the CFP designation. The school's homepage is at:
http://www.fp.edu

The CFP-specific page is:
http://www.fp.edu/fp/product.asp?dept%5Fid=101&sku=3100CFPE


Bruce

 

I thought Kaplan Colleges looked pretty good due to the fact that after the completion of the course I would be a Registered Financial Consultant (RFC), whilst working towards the CFP designation, but I guess since I am new to all this I will look more closely at the American College and the College for Financial Planning. Which one of these would be considered "better" than the other in the job market? I am a little confused at this stage but thanks for all the replies. Please keep 'em coming.

 

I agree entirely with Howard Rodgers.

Bear in mind that College for Financial Planning is now a for-profit school, having been bought by Apollo, parent company of the University of Phoenix (and I'm still trying to understand how you can buy a non-profit corporation--for $35 million, no less). Nothing inherently wrong with this situation, but there has been discussion here in the past about problems that can arise when the cost accountants end up "running" a school, with the potential for closing down unprofitable programs, just like canceling a slow-selling brand of toothpaste.

John Bear
Publisher's site: www.degree.net

 

If I recall, the CFP requires a few years of work experience in addition to completing the courses. You might also want to look at the Masters in Financial Planning offered by the School. (The School is both NCA and DETC accredited.)

 

I'd recommend starting with the CFP Guide to Certification, which is available at their website:
http://www.cfp-board.org/cert_gib.html

Several Board-Registered Programs are listed. I am considering Masters programs as part of the certification process, and the Golden Gate University and City University offerings look very interesting.

Good Luck!


Tony

 

Hello John:

I already enrolled for the Introduction to Financial Planning class at Florida State University but after reading this thread, I'm having second thoughts. Are the CFP courses offered at the College for Financial Planning and The American College really better? Please give me a few reasons why. My class doesn't start until December so I still have time to make the right decision based on your advice. Thanks a lot.

 

Hello Howard:

I hope you could also share your additional insights with me so that I could make the right choice. Thank you very much.

 

Essentially, THAT'S the difference! Many traditional DL programs (realizing "traditional DL" is somewhat oxymoronic) are group-paced; the courses begin and end on specific dates. Successful completion may include participation in threaded discussions, completion of written assignments, passing scores on quizzes, mid-terms, finals........in some cases, all of the foregoing.

The procedure at The American College and College for Financial Planning is different; register, pay, and pass a comprehensive exam for each course. You can begin studying almost immediately. You take the exam when you feel you're ready; 2 months, 2 weeks, 2 days, or whenever, you, and you alone, make that decision.

Personally, for the CFP designation, the only reason =not= to go with an entirely self-paced and self-directed program is if you feel you will need a good deal of hand-holding and support. If you don't have any such need, you will probably be able to complete programs such as those offered at The American College or College for Financial Planning in considerably less time.

 

American College is in Bryn Mawr PA.
Good luck in your search.

 

City U doesn't appear to offer an M.S. in financial planning. Rather, it appears as if financial planning is offered in conjunction with an MBA as a concentration. I find that pretty damn weird; why anyone would want to suffer through several organizational, managerial, and similar MBA-type courses that are almost entirely unrelated to financial planning is beyond my (admittedly limited) comprehension.

GGU offers a regular M.S. in financial planning. It would be a good choice, but, like City U, it's expensive in comparison to The American College and the College for Financial Planning, both of which offer accredited Master's programs in the field. In fact, the cost for the programs offered by GGU and City U would probably be more like =twice= that of the other two institutions.

 

Thanks a lot Homer. But assuming I could successfully hurdle any of the programs offered, would any program still be considered more prestigious than the rest? At first, I didn't think it really mattered which program I chose. After all, all of them are accredited by the CFP Board. So at first, my decision was largely based on the learning method that best suited me.

But after reading what Howard said, I guess reputation/industry recognition is a factor. I would be willing to make adjustments just to attend a particular program if it is really held in higher regard than the others or if the training is reputedly better. The College for Financial Planning claims its students have a significantly higher passing rate than the other examinees in the CFP exams. If this is true, then this is rather tempting.

All the programs make such a good job marketing themselves that it's difficult to make a choice. I guess that's one of the difficulties of attending an online course. Since there are no geographical boundaries, your choices widen immensely.

 

ChFC with American College

Hi eperlas,

I have the ChFC designation from the American College. When I pursued the certification years ago, it required passing ten courses. I think it only requires eight exams now.

With the American College, you can take the "One stone nails two birds" strategy. After passing five out of the eight courses required for ChFC, you will be qualified to take the national CFP exams. At the same time, you are only three exams from obtaining the ChFC designation.

Hope this helps.

Steven

 

Exactly! However, I should have mentioned that the M.S. degree The American College offers has two one-week residencies (Bryn Mawr, PA). Not too bad, though, since they're offered several times each year and the cost is fairly reasonable. Also, each residency is worth 6 credit hours (total = 12) which means you would need 24 more hours (8 courses) to get the degree.

 

Another school for CFP

You might also want to look at Kansas State University's Masters in Familily Financial Planning. I have completed 5 of the courses already. 6 gives me the certificate and then I'll sit for the exam.

12 completed courses gives me the Masters degree. It's not that expensive, the instructors are very good and the University itself is RA. ( besides that they have a great football team )

Good luck

Rafael

BS in Laws, Western State University
JD, Western State University ( ABA )
MBA, Pepperdine University
MS, Kansas State University, 2003

 

Re: ChFC with American College

Thanks a lot Steven. I'm becoming increasingly interested in the American College. Sounds like a great deal.

In your opinion, would someone without any experience in the financial services industry be able to hurdle this program? I have an MBA degree. I hope the finance classes I took back then would be enough.

Ed

 

Thanks for the insight Homer. I'm no expert in finance but I'm not a newbie either. I couldn't determine if I need hand-holding until I get a firmer grasp of how tough the finance topics and computations are. I've studied some complex finance stuff during my MBA days but I'm not sure if the complexity of the topics in the CFP program is within my level of finance knowledge. I really hope I know enough to be able to wing it.

Based on what I've read, the College for Financial Planning appears to have tougher admissions standards than the American College. It even suggests that unless you have experience working in the financial services industry, you're better off enrolling in their "lite" courses like Foundations in Financial Planning or its Financial Paraplanner program. In contrast, Kaplan and FSU appear to have a "Newbies Welcome" policy. Since all the programs from these schools are recognized by the CFP Board, I am assuming they are all more or less of the same quality.

 

ChFC Courses

Hi Ed,

With a M.B.A., I strongly believe that you will be able to handle the courses.
When I first started, I worked in the public accounting firm and had never practiced financial planning, and I didn’t find them very difficult.

Let me know if you need more info.

Steven

 

I agree with...

I agree with Mr. Rodgers (near the top of this thread). About a dozen years ago I was enrolled in the College for Financial Planning. Their materials are more than first rate; they are exemplary! They used textbooks, lecture notes, and casebook methods.

DO NOT fear if you are not used to distance learning--their materials are that good. But if I recollect rightly, they also offered roving seminars around the country for extended weekends of lecture and discussion on given portions of the program.

I enrolled after having worked with a Chartered Life Underwriter who had himself completed the CFP program. He was smart, articulate, and very professional. And very successful. The CFP seemed to complete or integrate all the skills he had accumulated working in the insurance field. (I did not complete the program only because my interests and life-goals had changed.)

Highly recommended.

--Orson