About Us
The College for Financial Planning, founded in 1972, is the original pioneer of formalized financial planning education. As the leader in setting industry standards for quality and service, the College currently services over 13,000 students and 115,000 graduates from its Masters and certification programs.
As a distance-learning institution of higher learning, the College began offering professional designations in 1972 starting with the CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM certification. In 1985 the College transferred the ownership and governance of the CFP marks to CFP Board but continues to be a registered provider of the education component for the CFP certification process. The College also offers Masters degrees and six professional designations.
Accreditation
The College for Financial Planning, Inc., is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and is a member of The North Central Association (NCA).
The College for Financial Planning has been authorized by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) to offer instruction for and to grant the Master of Science (MS) and Master of Science in Finance (MSF) degrees.
The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM Certification Professional Education Program is registered with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., and satisfies the educational requirement for CFP® certification.
Academic Credit
The American Council on Education (ACE) has reviewed the College's education programs and has included them in The National Guide to Educational Credit for Training Programs, which is published by ACE to assist colleges and universities in determining credit for learning attained outside the traditional academic environment.
The CFP Certification Professional Education Program has been evaluated at 15 semester hours of graduate level or upper-level undergraduate credit toward a bachelor's or master's degree in finance, investments, or business administration. Additionally, the College's six designation programs have been evaluated for three semester hours each, ranging from lower-level undergraduate through graduate level credit.
Most of the College's Professional Designation Programs are eligible for 3 hours of credit toward a bachelor's degree in finance, investments, or business administration. Transfer credit awarded for all courses is up to the discretion of the receiving institution.
State & National Regulation
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and numerous states have recently enacted regulations or legislation limiting the use of "senior" designations by registered representatives. The purpose of these rules is to restrict the use of designations by registered representatives to those that have credible requirements and academic rigor.
The College for Financial Planning supports these actions on the part of regulators and legislators. We are proud to state that based upon the College for Financial Planning's status as a regionally-accredited institution of higher education, all professional designations earned at the College are either approved, exempt, or receive preferential treatment in all the regulations and legislation thus far enacted at the state and national levels. Regional accreditation is considered the gold standard for higher education accreditation, and the College is proud of such accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. All of the College's professional designations are approved for use by the NASAA Model Rule and NAIC Model Rule.
The College for Financial Planning does not certify individuals to use the
CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM and
marks.
CFP® certification is granted solely by
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc.
to individuals who, in addition to completing an educational requirement such as this
CFP Board-Registered Program, have
met ethics,
experience and
examination requirements.
© 2007-2010 College For Financial Planning. All Rights Reserved.
The following are federally registered service marks of the College for Financial Planning and may not be used without the express written consent of the College.
Accredited Asset Management SpecialistSM or AAMS® | Accredited Domestic Partnership AdvisorSM or ADPASM | Accredited Portfolio Management AdvisorSM or APMASM | Accredited Wealth Management AdvisorSM or AWMA® | Chartered Retirement Planning CounselorSM or CRPC® | Chartered Retirement Plans SpecialistSM or CRPS® | Chartered Mutual Fund CounselorSM or CMFC® | Registered ParaplannerSM or RP®