Success in CFP® Education: Results from Students’ Performance Data

Abstract

CFP® Education is the first step towards the process of certification, and it also provides financial planners an opportunity to build a strong theoretical and application base for a successful career in financial planning. With the rapid change in technology, connectivity, and demand, the proponents of the CFP® education need to address the problems such as lack of diversity and inclusiveness and hurdles in student-progression, while continually reestablishing the validity of course content. A substantial amount of persistent research and discussion can help to identify major problems and find solutions. This study is a step in the direction of understanding the education component better and intends to gather the attention of the students, instructors, researchers, and policy-makers to initiate the discussions and future research needed to find answers to the problems it identifies. This study intends to find the relationship between student performance in CFP® education to the demographics, and professional and educational backgrounds after controlling for the years and seasonality of enrollment, and the number of exam attempts, using the data of the courses in the CFP® education program run at the College for Financial Planning from 2005 to 2016. The study found that the enrollment of women into the program remained stagnant at less than thirty percent, over the entire period. The study also found that women performed slightly better on grades, but also withdrew from the courses more often. The African-American and Hispanic students had lower enrollment, grades, and course completion rates, as compared to Whites. There was a consistent drop in enrollments, average grades, and odds of completion from CFP 1 to CFP 5 points to possible hurdles in the way of progression of the CFP education.