Frequently asked questions
Certified Financial Planner® certification has set the standard of excellence for financial planners for the past 50 years. Becoming a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) requires extensive training and experience. CFP Board’s ethical standards also require CFPs to act as a fiduciary and put their clients first when providing financial advice to a client. Thus, the CFP certificate inspires satisfaction and confidence with clients, and CFPs are valued by financial firms and consumers. Across the U.S. more than 10,000 firms employ CFP professionals. Obtaining a CFP certification will provide you with a wide range of career paths from which you will be able to choose the best fit for your future.
For course specific questions, you will be able to email your instructors from the course page. Also, you will be able to contact the program director about any questions related to the program and courses. Your questions will be answered mostly within hours or within 1 business day.
CFP program faculty members are qualified instructors with CFP®, CPWA®, CPA, CFA, EA, MS, PhD and/or extensive industry experience. You can find more detailed information about faculty members on their personal pages.
Upon completion of our CFP program, participants will receive a certificate of completion from the University of Nevada, Reno College of Business. This program fulfills the Education requirements for the CFP Certification Exam. Students who complete the program will be eligible to take the CFP exam.
We do not accept transcripts from other programs for credit towards our program. For our CFP program students need to complete all courses with this program.
There are 4 steps (“4 E’s”) to become certified by the CFP Board to use the CFP® mark. These steps are:
- The Education Requirement
- The Exam Requirement
- The Experience Requirement
- The Ethics Requirement
To learn more, please visit the CFP certification process website.
The cost of the program does not include the financial calculator. Students must purchase their calculators separately from the program. A calculator is required for completion of the program and for the CFP exam. Instructors will show you how to use Texas Instruments calculators (e.g., TI Ba11 Professional) to solve numerical problems. If you are proficient with other CFP approved financial calculators you can use them.
The calculators listed below are the only calculators allowed into the testing room.
Hewlett Packard
- HP 10b
- HP 10bll
- HP - 10bll+
- HP 12c
- HP 12c Platinum
- HP 17bll+
Texas Instruments
- TI BAII Plus
- TI BAII Plus Professional
- TI BAII Plus (Business Analyst)
Sharp
- Business/Financial Calculator EL-733
- Business/Financial Calculator EL-733a
- Business/Financial Calculator EL-738
For all payment and refund policies, the CFP program follows the University of Nevada, Reno's regulations. Please see the Cashier’s Office for related questions.
For the required and prohibited items for CFP exam please visit the official CFP website.