Bank Investment Consultant

Hi Jerry,

I'm a current student at the college for financial planning for the CFP class and so far I am very satisfied. I would definitely recommend the "Mentor Program" if your taking CFP - or similar - classes. Also, I'm not sure if you know this but the parent company for the College is Appolo Group which is also the parent company of the University of Phoenix. Hopefully this helps...good luck!

Brian,

Thanks for the insight,

Jerry

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Hi Jerry:  In 2004 I finished my MBA through the University of Phoenix (concentration in Technology Management) and in 2006 enrolled at the College for Financial Planning.  Both are under the Apollo Group corporate blanket.

First of all, let me say that you will get out of any program whatever you put into it.  Believe me I have had enough on-campus classes - both undergrad and graduate at some pretty good schools and these two online programs.  There are good and bad parts of all of them.

I found the Uof Phoenix classes to be much more participative in the weekly assignments and weekly and class team projects.  Close to being in a live class.  At the CFP, I found the classes to be more individual focused with minimal "class" correspondence and disussion.  You pretty much were on your own except for a team project for the class.  I switched out before the mentoring program started so that sounds interesting.

In both cases, the response and support from the Apollo Group was very good.  The faculty at both schools were very good and responsive to any and all questions.  I withdrew from the Masters in FP at CFP and converted over to the certificate program.  My own personal reasons though.

Best of luck to you in whatever decision you make. 

Tom DeNicholas

I did the College for Financial Planning coursework a couple of years ago and was very happy with it.  It's definitely a self study course and works best for someone who is motivated and disciplined to stay on track.  I had several email exchanges with the professors - some were very good, some less so.  In the end, I felt like the coursework presented what I needed to know to prepare for the exam (although I did take an intensive CFP class just before the exam). 

I am in school finishing the CFP classes but interested in taking the review courses for the exam with College of Financial Planning.  What did you think of the review class?  Do it help you pass the exam?

I wanted to take the 6 week mentor program that gets you prepared for the exam.  

It seems to me that you'll be wasting time and money at Kaplan

http://getinfo.kaplancollege.com/KaplanCollegePortal/Areasofstudy/

If you seriously want to excel in FP why are you not at the college for FP?

I completed the college for FP's self- study courses some 25 years ago.

Thanks for the comments, I'm glad for all the responses.

Jerry,

I took the registered paraplanner course last winter. The instructor was great, and the online learning format with live interactive (you can verbally ask questions during the class!) online classes was great as well. I am currently studying for my bachlors online through Cleary University and although the technology is good, it doesn't hold a candle to The College of Financial Planning. I would also recomend the Mentor program as that is what I took.

I did the mentor program in 2006 with CFFP.  I had problems with the Retirement Planning and Estate modules that were taught by non CFP certificants.  These two instructors were more worried about what they thought than what the CFP Board thought.  In the end, The CFP Board is the only one that matters.  I did finish up in mid 2007 and passed the board exam in November 2007.   Six weeks prior to the board exam, I took the Ken Zahn cram class that help me pass the Board Exam.  Ken Zahn taught at CFFP until the late 1990s.  Overall, I was satisfied with the Mentor Program but having non CFP instructors for a few classes made no sense.

Do employers see a masters degree from CFP the same as a masters from a state university? I was considering taking a personal financial planning masters program with a state university, but I think CFP might be more accessible for me... The state university I'm interested in seems like a good idea because on their website they have job postings from several different finance companies (posted by the company for their students, not posted by the school) so it seems they might be able to get me into a job pretty quick as soon as I finish the program. So basically, would you say that CFP will have the same benifits (with employers seeking out their graduates, or at least their graduates being able to easily find good employment) or should I go ahead with the state university?

Please would you repost this as a NEW topic?  It's an excellent question and I'd like to see what response you receive.

Thanks!

First, when you're talking about the College for Financial Planning, it's CFFP, not CFP (the certification).

You have an employee mentality.  So, you need to determine if you want to be an employee, or an employER.

An employee (which is what the universities are churning out these days) will want the ease of finding a job to work for someone else and do what that person wants done.

An employer finds the clients and helps to prepare their financial planning strategies for those clients.

It's still YOUR JOB to find the job/position you want and I don't think a college endorsement or assistance will help in either case.

This is an entrepreneurial career path.  It is for people who want to own their own business in the financial services world.

So, get whatever degree you want from whereever you want to, because your success is ALWAYS dependent upon YOU.

BTW, if you're wanting to dive right in and be an advisor to gather assets or sell insurance, you might want to take some sales courses.  You can probably find local LUTCF courses available to you at www.theamericancollege.edu

Well, I figure to gain the experience to be and employER I need some experience as an emploee first... I'd prefer to get that kind of experience before I jump in to doing my own thing, unless after completing the CFFP program I feel confident and comfortable going straight into it. I understand what you're saying but I'm just trying to plan ahead and look at all of my options, so I feel it is important to know whether employers will see a degree from CFFP as equal to a university degree. I want to do whatever is going to give me the best options in the future.