Reiman students can earn their master’s degree while taking care of the requirements needed to sit for the CFP exam
For years, grad students at the Reiman School of Finance walked down two, well-trodden paths. Many aspired to be a CFO. Others were determined to be a chartered financial analyst (CFA).
Now, the Daniels College of Business program is formally offering a highly customizable graduate curriculum in which students earn a master’s degree while simultaneously preparing to sit for the certified financial planner (CFP) exam.
“The industry has reorganized itself around wealth as a concept with the CFP being the primary advisor to clients,” said Conrad Ciccotello, professor and director of the Reiman School of Finance. “In that sense, the certification has become very powerful because other experts are often referrals from the primary advisor.”
In other words, Ciccotello said, the certified financial planner is the quarterback behind your wealth management strategy. They’re the one helping you call the play that’s best for your personal finances. To execute the play, the CFP brings in a team of specialists, such as accountants, lawyers or estate planners.
Currently, only about 100,000 people hold the CFP certification (compare that to about 672,000 CPAs), but Reiman faculty see wealth management as a career path that is becoming more structured and more integrated into the finance world.
Daniels added a wealth management concentration to its undergraduate coursework in 2022. By tacking a CFP track to its Master’s of Applied Qualitative Finance (MSAQF), the Reiman School is the only institution in the state that offers this preparation to graduate students.
“Let’s face it: People don’t necessarily know they want this at the undergrad level,” said Doina Chichernea, an associate professor and director of the MSAQF program. “A lot of times they come back after working for a couple years. Having this at grad level gives us a niche and advantage that the other schools don’t have.”
Paul Harrison, a teaching assistant professor, is the architect behind the program. He wanted to use the already flexible Reiman curriculum to accommodate a variety of students—whether they are going back to school to pivot careers or spring themselves forward in their current field.
The result is a wealth component that complements other aspects of a Reiman degree. Plus, the Daniels program takes care of the coursework the CFP board requires to sit for the exam. That means Harrison had to configure existing classes to ensure they covered each area in the CFP exam: investment, estate, tax and insurance.
“The part where you can get your CFP while you’re doing the coursework is exciting,” Chichernea said of the program. “You have this chance to hit the ground running. If you already have this as a line on your resume, you’re much more appealing to employers.”
Plus, by studying at Daniels, CFP students gain an active alumni network, along with almost unprecedented access to those already working in the field.
“The local chapter of the Financial Planning Association comes to our campus” for quarterly meetings, Harrison said, providing an opportunity to learn and network. “They don’t go to other campuses. They look at us as the premier institution to be training these young people. They are involved in our program and understand what we are trying to accomplish. They are trying to help us identify the trends they’re seeing in their space. It really sets our students up for success.”
“If this is where you want to be in the job space,” he added, “then I think DU is positioned so well to get you there in the fastest way possible.”