Financial Planning
The Business department offers a BBA degree in financial planning. Students receiving their AAS or AS degree in virtually any business concentration will be able to seamlessly transfer into this program and receive the BBA degree in four more semesters, which includes a full semester internship in the field.
Personal financial services is one of the most lucrative and rapidly expanding professions in existence. By combining expertise in estate planning, investment planning, risk management, insurance evaluation, tax planning, retirement planning, and employee benefits planning, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional offers one-stop comprehensive expert advice and planning which would have formerly required a prospective client to seek advice from a variety of different professionals. Students completing this four-year degree will be eligible to sit for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ examination, a rigorous multi-part exam that is one important step in becoming a CFP® practitioner. While there are numerous job opportunities for employment in various types of financial institutions such as banks, investment firms, and the insurance industry, perhaps the greatest earnings potential lies in becoming a self-employed CFP® practitioner.
This is an extremely rewarding profession. Not only is there tremendous earning potential, but it is also a very satisfying way to make a living by helping people bring order to their lives by teaching them how to acquire, and retain, wealth. Aside from the monetary rewards (including starting and ending salaries well above the average for college graduates), financial planners enjoy a host of personal rewards from assisting their fellow Americans to save, invest, and plan for their financial futures. No wonder that the career of personal financial planning has consistently ranked as one of the "happiest" of careers!
A laptop computer is required for students entering the financial planning program. See laptop specifications.
This program is registered with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the trademarks CFP®, Certified Financial Planner™ and CFP®(with flame design) certification marks in the U.S., which it awards to individual who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
Alfred State College does not certify individuals to use the CFP®,Certified Financial Planner™ and CFP®(with flame design) certification 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.
- Integrate and synthesize the knowledge identified by the CFP® Board's required topic list and gained from core courses, into decision making, critical thinking, and problem solving skills.
- Design and communicate a comprehensive financial plan as defined by the CFP® Board of Standards.
- Develop practice management techniques, interpersonal consulting, and client communication skills.
- Employ ethical standards when dealing with clients as per the CFP® Board of Standards.
- Develop a sense of mission regarding service to clients and community.
- Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
- Use technological resources effectively and appropriately to communicate, collaborate, and retrieve information.
- Research and prepare business-related documents and presentations that are well organized and including supporting materials in an appropriate format.
Required: Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2/Trigonometry, SAT and/or ACT scores with a recommended combined SAT score of 1,000 (critical reading and math) or a composite ACT score of 21
- Designed for students interested in acquiring knowledge, skills, and insight to become personal financial planners or other financial planning professionals
- State-of-the-art classroom and computer facilities featuring a wireless environment. Faculty include an attorney, a certified public accountant (CPA), and a CFP® professional.
- There is a full-semester internship in the final semester of this four-year program.
- 133 credit hours, including one credit hour of physical education
- 30 credit hours of the 45 upper-level credit hours for this degree must be taken at Alfred State College
- cumulative overall index of at least 2.0
- Banking
- Insurance
- Investment Firms
- Financial Planning Firms
- Attorney's Offices
- Self-Employment
- Employee Benefits Specialists
- Accounting Firms
Most students are in a classroom setting 15-18 hours a week for formal instruction. Most courses required of this major are three credit hours, which equates to three-four hours per week in a classroom/lab and six-eight hours a week of outside reading and project assignments. Students are assigned a faculty adviser who works individually with him/her to set up schedules and choose appropriate electives.
| First Semester | credits | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ACCT | 1124 | Financial Accounting | 4 |
| CISY | 1103 | Information Technology Mgmt. | 3 |
| MKTG | 2073 | Principles of Marketing | 3 |
| MATH | 1123 | Statistics I | 3 |
| COMP | 1503 | Freshman Composition | 3 |
| HPED | xxx1 | Physical Education Elective | 1 |
| 17 | |||
| Second Semester | credits | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ACCT | 2224 | Managerial Accounting | 4 |
| BUAD | 2033 | Business Communications | 3 |
| CISY | 3023 | Adv Micro Spreadsheets | 3 |
| xxx3 | Humanities Gen Ed Elective | 3 | |
| SPCH | 1083 | Effective Speaking | 3 |
| xxx3 | Natural Science Elective | 3 | |
| 19 | |||
| Third Semester | credits | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| BUAD | 3153 | Fund of Management | 3 |
| BUAD | 3043 | Business Law I | 3 |
| BUAD | 4203 | Intro to Personal Financial Planning | 3 |
| ECON | 1013 | Macroeconomics | 3 |
| BUAD | 4133 | Investments | 3 |
| ACCT | 3453 | Tax Accounting I | 3 |
| 18 | |||
| Fourth Semester | credits | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| MKTG | 1063 | Salesmanship | 3 |
| ECON | 2023 | Microeconomics | 3 |
| BUAD | 4193 | Insurance & Risk Management | 3 |
| xxx3 | Western Civ Elective | 3 | |
| xxx3 | Other World Civ Elective | 3 | |
| BUAD | xxx3 | Business Elective | 3 |
| 18 | |||
| Fifth Semester | credits | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| BUAD | 5003 | Management Communications | 3 |
| BUAD | 5023 | Human Resource Management | 3 |
| FSMA | 7023 | Estate Planning | 3 |
| xxx3 | Foreign Language Elective | 3 | |
| COMP | 5703 | Technical Writing II | 3 |
| TMGT | 5001 | Business Seminar | 1 |
| 16 | |||
| Sixth Semester | credits | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| FSMA | 6003 | Employee Benefit Planning | 3 |
| BUAD | xxx3 | Management Elective-upper | 3 |
| xxx3 | Fine Arts Elective | 3 | |
| xxx3 | American History Elective | 3 | |
| BUAD | 5033 | Retirement Planning | 3 |
| 15 | |||
| Seventh Semester | credits | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| FSMA | 7123 | Personal Fin. Planning Capstone | 3 |
| FSMA | 5003 | Investment Planning | 3 |
| FSMA | 5103 | Tax Planning | 3 |
| FSMA | 7103 | Money and Banking | 3 |
| BUAD | xxx3 | Business Elective | 3 |
| BUAD | xxx3 | Management Elective Upper Level | 3 |
| 18 | |||
| Eighth Semester | credits | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| FSMA | 8112 | Internship | 12 |
| Survey Details | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving Degrees | 18 | 10 | 8 |
| Responding to Survey | 12 (67%) | 5 (50%) | 5 (63%) |
| Employed | 10 (83%) | 5 (100%) | 5 (100%) |
| Employed in Field | 10 (100%) | 5 (100%) | 5 (100%) |
| Transferred | 2 (17%) | -- | -- |
| Unemployed & Seeking Employment | -- | -- | -- |
| Unemployed & Not Seeking Employment | -- | -- | -- |
$30,000 - $39,999 (2)
$80,000 - $89,999 (1)
Prefer not to disclose (2)
