• Our Designations
  • Accredited Asset Management Specialist^SM or AAMS^®
  • Accredited Domestic Partnership Advisor^SM or ADPA^®
  • Accredited Portfolio Management Advisor^SM or APMA^®
  • Accredited Wealth Management Advisor^SM or AWMA^®
  • Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor^SM or CMFC^®
  • Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor^SM or CRPC^®
  • Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist^SM or CRPS^®
  • Master Planner Advanced Studies^SM or MPAS^SM
  • Registered Paraplanner^SM or RP^®
• Designation Requirements
• Standards of Conduct
• State Approval/Regulations
• Find an Advisor
• About Us

About Us

The College for Financial Planning is a regionally-accredited institution of higher education accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association. The College is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apollo Group, Inc. located in Phoenix Arizona. The College offers a Master of Science degree with a Personal Financial Planning major and two Master of Science in Finance degrees, several proprietary professional designations, and the CFP Certification Professional Education Program. Founded in 1972, the College is the country’s oldest provider of financial planning education and has over 120,000 graduates from its Master’s and non-degree programs.

Accreditation

The College for Financial Planning, Inc., is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), 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 PLANNER^TM 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.