CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Certification Education Program
Program Courses
On-Campus Program Courses and Class Schedule
Complete the certificate in 14 to 18 months by:
Taking more than one course at a time at least once during the program such as Income Tax, Estate or Retirement Planning. (Taking more than two courses per term is not recommended.)
Taking the Introduction and Investment course by themselves (i.e. do not double up).
Taking the Financial Plan Development and Presentation course by itself at the end of the program. (Per CFP Board no exceptions will be made.)
Program Schedule: Courses are held according to the schedule below, but may be subject to change.
Registration tips:
Click on a course link to register.
To see the dates and prices for multiple courses, filter by term.
320-0 Financial Plan Development and Presentation (Capstone) *Only offered during the Fall and Spring terms. Please plan your schedule with this in mind.
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Sample Course Plans
.
Standard
Fall Start
YEAR 1
YEAR 2
FALL
Intro
Estate
WINTER
Insurance
Retirement
SPRING
Income Tax
Financial Plan
SUMMER
Investment
[July Exam]
Spring Start
YEAR 1
YEAR 2
SPRING
Intro
Estate
SUMMER
Insurance
Retirement
FALL
Income Tax
Financial Plan
WINTER
Investment
[March Exam]
Accelerated
Fall Start
YEAR 1
YEAR 2
FALL
Intro
Financial Plan
WINTER
Insurance + Retirement
[March Exam]
SPRING
Income Tax + Estate
SUMMER
Investment
Spring Start
YEAR 1
YEAR 2
SPRING
Intro
Financial Plan
SUMMER
Insurance + Retirement
[July Exam]
FALL
Income Tax + Estate
WINTER
Investment
PDP courses are offered online, remotely, and on-campus. Please refer to the
Schedule Notes for course delivery information.
IMPORTANT:
The registration process for all professional development courses requires you
to register for your course and
update your emergency contact information
in CAESAR, Northwestern University's Student Enterprise System.
TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT*:
Registering for multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a mandatory,
integrated step to access Northwestern University systems. Northwestern
uses the DUO Mobile smartphone application for multi-factor authentication.
Steps to install the DUO Mobile App can be found
here.
Once you have
completed the MFA registration process, you will have access to systems
like CAESAR and CANVAS, Northwestern’s Learning Management System.
*It is a student’s responsibility to ensure access to Northwestern systems
after registering for a PDP course. If you do not have a smartphone capable of
downloading and using the DUO Mobile app, you may want to consider a
YubiKey
that can be purchased from several online retailers.
FN_EXTND 300-0 : Introduction to Financial Planning
Description
This course will introduce you to the profession of Financial
Planning and the personal Financial Planning Process. This is the
first course in the series of classes which will qualify you to sit
for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ exam. Through assigned
readings, lectures, class discussions, problem sets, and an
experiential learning project, you will gain an overview of the
financial planning profession and obtain the knowledge necessary to
define the scope of the financial planner/client relationship,
identify and gather client financial data and goals, and begin to
analyze and evaluate the client’s financial needs. You will expand
your understanding of the role of the financial planner, including
the fiduciary nature of the advisor/client relationship. Emphasis
will be placed on the regulatory agencies that govern our
profession, ethical standards, budgeting, case study, various
special situations, financial statement creation, importance of
client relationships, and the time value of money. This
course is offered during the spring and fall terms.
Registered students can access their online course site
here. An
activated NetID and password is required for login. *Please note:
It may take up to 24-hours for registered students to be added to
the online course platform.
Additional Information:
The concepts in this course were previously covered in FN_PLAN 311-0 or FN_EXTND 311-0. Students who have already completed 311-0 do not need to take this course.
In the on-campus track, this five-week course is offered in the Fall and Spring quarters.
Unlike other courses in the program, FN_EXTND 300-0 will be conducted in a hybrid format. The schedule will run as follows:
10/2 In person
10/9 Remote
10/16 In person
10/23 Remote
10/30 No class – final exam
11/5 - 11/13 Individual 1:1 student meetings
All times listed CST
For more information, please contact profdev@northwestern.edu.
Course Materials :
Fundamentals of Financial Planning - 7th Edition, Money Education. ISBN: 978-1-946711-39-7 (Please note: If you purchase a used book you will not have access to the online resources. You will need to purchase access to the online resources for $29.95 through Money Education.)
