Financial Planning - November 2012

CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS Boston University Boston CFP Board-registered programs (online and in person): 2 certificate programs, 1 online and 1 in person. Enrollment: 1,250 online, 155 in person Faculty (full-time and adjunct): 23 adjunct Student-to-faculty ratio: 22: 1 Tuition: $5,295 for an online accelerated program, $3,495 for online self-pace and $7,360 for a classroom program that includes a review/exam preparation course. FPA student chapter: Yes Profile: Boston University administrators used to vet prospective students to make sure online learning was for them — but, nearly a decade later, online learning is so common they don’t have to do that anymore, says Ruth Ann Murray, director of the Center for Professional Education at BU’s Metropolitan College. BU’s online courses enrolled close to 1,250 students last year; its in-person classes drew 155 people. BU’s CFP Board-registered programs are approved for credit by the American Council for Education. Bob Glovsky, director emeritus of BU’s financial planning program, who helped the CFP Board write its first exam in 1988, says one day he’d like to see many more degree programs available for planners. But for now, he adds, certificate programs play a critical role in educating would-be planners and building out the profession. “The delivery [mechanism],” Glovsky says, “is a secondary goal.”

DePaUl University Chicago CFP Board-registered programs (online and in person): 9-credit certificate program offered both online and in person Enrollment: 150 to 200

Faculty: 13 adjuncts Student-to-faculty ratio: 15: 1 at the downtown campus, 6: 1 at the suburban campus Tuition: $5,400 FPA student chapter: No Profile: DePaul, the largest Roman Catholic university in North America, launched its nine-credit certificate program in 1999 and relies heavily on a pool of local CFPs to serve as faculty and create customized study materials. “[About] 90% of our faculty are from the industry,” says Dorothy Jagonase, program manager of the university’s Financial Planning Education Center. Students can supplement their in-class work by studying online. According to Jagonase, the school is also proud of its professionally diverse student body, which hails from the brokerage, banking, tax, legal and compliance fields. The school says 50 of its students sat for CFP exams in 2011 and had a 60% pass rate.

Fairleigh Dickinson
University
Teaneck, N.J.
CFP Board-registered programs:
Financial planning certificate course
Enrollment: More than 200 a year
Faculty: About 100 part-time
adjuncts in multiple locations
Student-to-faculty ratio: 12: 1 in the
classroom
Tuition: $5,995
FPA student chapter: No
Profile: Fairleigh Dickinson draws
from a large pool of industry profes-
sionals as adjunct faculty, teaching
courses at multiple locations. (It will
introduce one online class next year.)
One of the first institutions nation-
wide to offer a financial planning
certificate, FDU’s program dates back
27 years. Students are primarily mid-
career professionals already working
in the financial planning industry,
says Valerie Barnes, the program’s
director; she says they receive a sub-
stantial amount of focused one-on-
one counseling and instruction. For
students who want more interaction
with faculty, Barnes says, “we provide
instant access.” Although the school
does not have a student FPA chapter,
students work closely with the New
Jersey chapter of the FPA.

University oF FloriDa Location: Gainesville, Fla. CFP Board-registered programs (online and in person): 3 in total: online certificate program, in-class certificate aimed at students also completing an undergraduate degree and in-class certificate for master’s or doctoral students Enrollment: 15 undergraduate, 5 graduate Faculty: 2 full-time, 1 adjunct Students-to-faculty ratio: 5: 1 Tuition: Undergraduate certificate is $3,000, graduate-level certificate and online certificate are both $9,750 FPA student chapter: Forming Profile: Registered with the CFP Board just last fall, the University of Florida’s master’s program in financial planning is taught in a virtual classroom that makes use of cutting-edge technology. Recently, Zywave donated NaviPlan, a leading financial planning software, to the school, so students now use this and other tools to learn how to manage personal financial risk efficiently, while being exposed to other areas of planning. “While many other schools teach their students through paper-case studies, we are one of the few schools that connect students with real-life clients as they work toward completion of their capstone,” says associate professor Michael Gutter. “Meanwhile, in the heat of all this, we never lose sight of our mission — which is to develop a strong commitment toward household and family goals.”