Qualified students may opt-out of the classroom hours requirement of HS 333 and move directly to completing the case study component. Learn more about the Accelerated Capstone Program—CFP® Exam with Accelerated Path.

Enhanced Online Learning: Webinar Classes Available

For select courses, a webinar study option is available for those who want a more familiar classroom feel as part of their student experience. Attend weekly classes online and ask questions in real-time. Many of these webinar classes come complete with smartphone- and tablet-ready material. 

Learning shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach, and working professionals shouldn’t have to choose between their education and their career. With Personal Pathway^®, you can tailor your coursework to your busy schedule, all with the convenience of accessing materials and resources anytime and from anywhere. Choose from:

• A structured, guided 14-week learning path with timed, benchmarked objectives
• A true self-study experience you can customize to your learning goals and pace

Personal Pathway^® is a unique, state-of-the-art, and responsive e-learning experience. Powerful features include:

• Flexible, yet structured and customizable learning paths
• Cutting-edge digital course resources accessible from anywhere and from any device
• Engaging online webinars and discussion forums 
• Interactive lesson reviews, weekly office hours with instructors, and more
• One flat tuition rate, regardless of the options you choose

Upon enrolling in each course, students have 10 weeks to complete all of the required course requirements.  Upon completion of all of the coursework a 4 week exam window opens for the student to schedule, prepare and take their exam. 

Tuition includes all fees, your final exam, and course materials. For a complete listing, view the Tuition & Fees section.

Program tuition can be paid on a per-course basis, or packaged together as a program for a reduced rate, with multiple options available. To see our current tuition rate and options, view the Tuition and Fees section.

There are no prerequisites required to take program courses other than a high school diploma or the equivalent; you may begin at any time. However, in order to be awarded the designation, you must meet all necessary requirements of the CFP Board.

To enroll in the program, contact an admissions advisor at 888-263-7265 or click here to begin our online enrollment process.

The CE credit value of courses depends upon your individual state. For more information, see our CE Credit Listing page or check your state’s guidelines.

The Chartered Financial Consultant^® (ChFC^®) designation and the  CFP^® certification are two of the most common financial certificates. Professionally, they are similar, but what is required to earn each of the certifications varies greatly.

To earn ChFC^® certification, you will have to take eight different courses, but only seven to earn a CFP^® certification. The people who go for CFP^® certification are required to sit through a lengthy board exam. This is not the case with ChFC^® certification, which requires the candidate to take a test when each course is completed. 

If you intend to pursue a career as a financial professional, you will be inclined more toward helping your clients manage their personal finances for the future. Your duties will vary according to your clients’ needs. You will be expected to understand your client's financial status and aid them when needed. These duties include helping them save for retirement, start a college fund, or any number of financial goals. Both CFP^® certification and our ChFC^® program can help with this.

View our course comparison chart to see how these courses overlap — and how you can earn multiple designations faster.

To earn your CFP^® mark, you must fulfill the following certification requirements:

Education Requirement

The educational requirement has two parts: first, complete the required coursework in personal financial planning, estate planning, risk management, professional conduct, and other subjects covered on the CFP^® exam through a CFP Board registered program before taking the exam; and second, receive a bachelors degree or higher from an accredited college or university up to five years after the date you pass the exam (degree may be in any discipline, not just financial services).

Exam Requirement

In addition to the education requirement, financial professionals looking to earn their certification must first take the CFP^® exam: a 170-question, multiple-choice test consisting of two three-hour sessions over the course of one day. The exam includes stand-alone and scenario-based questions, as well as more detailed case studies. For more details on preparing for the exam, check out our blog post.

Experience Requirement

To qualify for CFP^® certification, you must also complete either 6,000 hours of professional experience as a financial advisor or related to the financial planning process, or 4,000 hours of apprenticeship experience. You can fulfill the experience requirements either before or after you take the exam.

Continuing Education Requirement

Once a financial professional has been approved for the CFP^® mark, they will need to recertify with 30 hours of continuing education (CE) credit every two years, including three hours of ethics CE credit. The American College of Financial Services offers many programs with opportunities to earn CE credit.

Ethics Requirement

As part of earning your CFP^® certification or any other financial planning credentials, you must agree to adhere to high ethical and professional standards as a financial advisor and to act in the client's best interest during the financial planning process.

The CFP Board oversees the CFP^® mark. The CFP Board determines and enforces the standards for the certification.

The exam for certification is considered challenging. Through study and exam prep, such as The Dalton Review^®, The American College of Financial Services ensures students are well prepared to sit for the exam.

Completing a professional certification program is recommended for people looking to begin or enhance a career in financial planning. 

Yes, certification coursework is for a professional certificate. Meeting all qualifications, including successful completion of the course, earns you the mark.

By the end of your certification process, you will have an in-depth understanding of investing and accounting financial analysis. You will also develop strong communication and listening skills. Since certified financial planners work closely with their clients, your certification will also help you polish your interpersonal skills. Certifications will help you enhance your problem-solving ability. You will have a well-honed understanding of the appropriate products and services needed to handle your clients’ financial problems.

The best certification for you as a financial advisor depends on your area of expertise and the career you intend to pursue. Financial advisor certifications may not be required, but are highly encouraged and supported by brokerage firms. Once you plan on pursuing a financial certification, it would establish your professional expertise in the financial services industry, whether the focus is on accounting, financial planning, investing, or other areas. 

Continuing education courses let you develop your knowledge and skills in a specific area, and are very important for many financial planning certifications. CFP^® certification continuing education keeps financial planners up-to-date with what is new within the financial sector. For financial planners, learning is a never-ending process. As a professional financial planner, you will find CFP^® certification CE beneficial throughout your career. 

As a CFP^® professional, you will be required to complete 30 hours of continuing education in regular reporting periods. This includes two hours of CFP board-approved ethics CE and 28 hours of CFP^® certification CE covering one or more of the CFP Board’s principal topics. The work is intensive and may require some effort. You’ll learn about such topics as securities, insurance, retirement planning, wealth management, and more. CFP^® certification continuing education is essential to keep your certification valid.

Yes, it does. You have to renew your certification every two years, before your certificate's expiry date. Identify the date of your need for renewal and secure the needed CE credit as quickly as possible. Do not wait for the expiry date before planning a renewal; otherwise, you will not be able to accumulate all the needed CE credit.

First of all, you will have to renew your certification; for that, you will have to pay an annual fee. You will also be required to submit a renewal application. It should be noted the annual certification fee is non-refundable, and acceptance of the fee payment does not guarantee or imply it will maintain your certification. After that, you must complete your continuing education (CE) requirement. Please keep in mind that your certificate expires after two years. Therefore, all your reported CFP^® certification continuing education hours must be sent to the CFP Board before the date of expiration.

You can also explore the webinars arranged by The American College of Financial Services to earn needed CE credit.

The ChFC^® and CFP^® certification are both general financial planning certifications and demonstrate the certificant has expertise in the foundational issues all planners face when working with clients. 

This similarity is demonstrated most notably in the education requirement for each certificate: all seven of The College’s CFP^® Certification Education Program courses are also courses in the ChFC^® program. Many students take the eighth course in the ChFC^® program and sit for the CFP^® exam to earn both certifications.

Another similarity is that both certifications require 6,000 hours of financial planning experience within five years of meeting the other requirements. In addition, both have ethics and continuing education (CE) requirements to keep the certificate active.

While their education requirements are similar, there are differences between the ChFC^® and CFP^® certification requirements. As mentioned above, the ChFC^® program includes an eighth course, Contemporary Issues in Financial Planning. Through this course, ChFC^® students learn about specialized fields of financial planning, including planning for blended families, divorcees, and more fields that are not included in the CFP^® Certification Education Program curriculum.

Another major difference is the board exam requirement. After completing all necessary education and preparation, an aspiring CFP^® professional is required to take a thorough exam overseen by the CFP^® Board. Unlike CFP^® certification, however, there is not a comprehensive board exam to pass to earn your ChFC^®. 

A bachelor's degree from a recognized institution or university in any discipline is also required to receive the CFP^® certification. ChFC^® candidates, in contrast, do not need a bachelor’s degree.

Because the courses The College offers are CFP Board-registered, our courses satisfy the CFP Board's educational requirement and provide insight into real-world situations. We offer seven courses so our students can acquire an enhanced understanding of financial planning. The seven courses are:

1.       Financial Planning: Process and Environment

2.       Fundamentals of Insurance Planning

3.       Fundamentals of Income Taxation

4.       Planning for Retirement Needs

5.       Investments

6.       Fundamentals of Estate Planning

7.       Personal Financial Planning: Comprehensive Case Analysis

At The College, the courses above are offered by experienced instructors with proven track records in the field of financial planning. These instructors provide engaging coursework to the students throughout their certification education and help our students consistently pass their exams at rates 10-15% above the national average.

The CFP^® certification capstone course is one that will challenge students to amalgamate, synthesize, integrate, and apply elements of overall financial planning. It will also require students to apply the CFP Board’s practical standards and implement all the duties of the financial planning process. The Capstone course will develop the skills and abilities required in the career you intend to pursue. It will enhance your knowledge as a financial planner and evaluate your capability to produce responsible financial planning assistance to clients.

The CFP^® exam is a 170-question exam designed to test your skills and aptitude regarding real-life financial planning situations and demonstrate that you can properly apply financial knowledge and industry insights. The examination lasts for six hours and is fully computerized. The exam is divided into two three-hour sessions, with a lunch break of 40 minutes in between. This examination takes place three times a year, usually in March, July, and November. It is offered for eight days at 265 testing sites across the U.S. 

The overall pass rate for the CFP^® exam was 63% in 2020. The pass rate has remained consistent since 2016, when the new exam blueprint was introduced, so it is safe to say it is very rigorous. You have to begin preparing for the CFP^® exam months before you plan to sit for it. You will have to be consistent with your studies and will have to put in a lot of effort, including studying topics such as securities and what it means to be a financial professional, as well as showing competency in all areas. To summarize, you must have a clear knowledge of what you want and what is expected of you in order to pass your exam.

The American College of Financial Services is one of many providers of coursework that allows you to meet the CFP^® certification education requirement. Students who engage with The College’s program pass their exam at rates that are consistently 10-15% above the national average - so there is some evidence that a quality program leads to higher pass rates!

That said, the coursework itself is not intended to directly prepare you for the exam; rather, we strongly encourage you to complete a dedicated CFP^® Exam review course. 

Well before your exam day, make sure that you have completed all necessary coursework and gone through all the case studies depicted in our program. Stay focused once you begin studying, because many aspiring financial planners begin preparing for the exam, but only a small fraction of them complete it. As a result, maintaining consistency is critical!

Even if you have been an exceptional student your whole life and met the educational requirements, it will be quite difficult to study for the exam on your own. This is because you would have to search on your own for all the up-to-date facts, figures, and materials required to prepare, which represents an immense body of specialized knowledge. 

Generally, you will need help from experts to prepare for the exam and, once you pass, you will be one step closer to earning your CFP^® certification (you must also meet certain other qualifications, such as holding a bachelor’s degree). At The College, we provide the highest-quality CFP^® exam preparation education for potential candidates. We make sure that our students appearing for the exam are well-prepared and well-equipped so they can achieve their goal of acquiring their certification, including review courses made available through our partnership with Dalton Education.

While The College’s CFP^® Certification Education Program will prepare you in many ways for the CFP^® exam, it is generally recommended that serious students seek out additional exam review courses to be properly prepared for their exam. Exam review courses will not only cover the materials, knowledge, and principles to be included in the exam, but will walk students through testing strategies, test dynamics, question format, and other information critical to success.

The College does not offer its own exam review courses, but currently partners with Dalton Education to offer exam review programs such as The Dalton Review™. Students taking this exam review get a discount when they are students in The College’s programs; however, there are many other review courses available on the market for students to take.