dent-managed investment funds in
the country. Valued at about $5.2mil-
lion, it is managed 60% by graduate
students in other majors and 40%
by undergraduates, says Tom Potts,
director of the financial services and
planning program. Proceeds from the
funds are used to pay for scholarships
and other student needs. The exercise
is intended to teach investment management principles and techniques.
Although the program doesn’t enroll
many students, Potts says, those students are making their mark: One of
two Baylor teams that recently entered
a financial planning case competition
made it to the national finals. The Dal-las-Fort Worth chapter of FPA honored
one of Baylor’s first graduates with a
financial planning major at a banquet
last month in Dallas.
California State UniverSity,
northridge
Northridge, Calif.
CFP Board-registered programs:
B.S. in finance with a sequence in
personal financial planning and B.S.
in business administration with an
option in insurance and financial
services and a sequence in personal
financial planning
Enrollment: 40
Faculty: 4 full-time, 2 adjuncts
Student-to-faculty ratio: 7: 1
Tuition: For California residents $2,247,
for out-of-state residents $4,479.
FPA student chapter: No
Profile: In the spring of last year, California State University at Northridge
registered its two undergraduate planning programs with the CFP Board,
with the aim of improving financial
literacy in and around Los Angeles.
The administrators hope its students
— many of whom are ethnic minorities
and the first generation in their families to attend college — will become
planners for underserved populations
throughout the region. “We are excited
6
doc Toral programs
na Tionwide This year
to have received the approval from
the CFP Board and believe it will be a
major resource for students and the
surrounding community,” says Monica Hussein, associate director of the
school’s Center for Financial Planning
& Investment.
ClemSon UniverSity
Clemson, S.C.
CFP Board-registered programs:
B.S. in financial management with a
concentration in financial planning
Enrollment: About 20
Faculty: 5 full-time
Student-to-faculty ratio: 4: 1
Tuition: For South Carolina residents
$21,726, for out-of-state residents
$38,370.
FPA student chapter: No
Profile: Clemson’s 18-year-old under-
graduate degree in planning is back in
operation this year after being out of
commission for part of 2010 and all
of 2011. The economic downturn cre-
ated a cash crunch that forced the uni-
versity to suspend the program. But
roughly 20 students have enrolled in
financial planning classes this year,
according to John Alexander, the
program director since 1998. “Thank
goodness, we now have a commit-
ment at the administrative level to
staff these classes,” says Alexander, a
professor of finance who teaches port-
folio management, while also serv-
ing as chief investment officer for the
university’s foundation. The program
is rigorous, he says, especially since
the advent of the new capstone class,
which the CFP Board mandated this
year for all of its registered programs.
Alexander says Clemson planning
graduates are heavily recruited, and
often end up working for banks and
corporations.
UniverSity of georgia
Athens, Ga.
CFP Board-registered programs: B.S.
degree 75 students, master’s degree 10
students, Ph.D. 5 students. An online
M.S. degree will be offered in 2013.
Faculty: 4 full time, 1 adjunct
Student-to-faculty ratio: 15: 1 for
undergraduate; 3: 1 for graduate
Tuition: Undergraduate $9,842 per
academic year, full-time; graduate
$3,795 per semester, full-time.
FPA student chapter: Student Financial Planning Association
Profile: Registered with the CFP
Board just two years ago, UGA offers
in-person degree tracks for undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. candidates,
and next year plans to launch online
masters and certificate programs.
Director John Grable says he made
the difficult decision last year to leave
Kansas State’s program for Georgia
in part because of the strong administrative support it enjoys. Located in
the Housing and Consumer Economics Department, the program teaches
students in an intensively interdisciplinary environment that includes pro
bono work in the community. Many
local couples going through divorces
receive free advice from students, not
only from the financial planning program, but also from the law school,
and finance and accounting departments (for taxes). As a result, Grable
says, graduates gain strong technical
and interpersonal skills. Last month,
UGA students beat out a team from
