Undergraduate Department of Financial Planning
COLLEGE OF APPLIED STUDIES
Website: https://pc.fsu.edu/financial-planning
Teaching Faculty II: Joseph Krupka; Teaching Faculty I: Turner Amacher
The College of Applied Studies offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Financial Planning. This program prepares students to become effective and successful financial planners and is registered by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. Upon graduation, students will be eligible to take the CFP Certification Examination and be proficient in the academic, professional, and applied skills required for success in financial planning career. The Financial Planning major courses can be taken fully online, which provides ultimate flexibility for students in their undergraduate studies.
Admission Information
This is not a specialized admission program. Students transferring from another institution are strongly encouraged to earn an AA before matriculating at Florida State University and should apply for admission to the College of Applied Studies before transferring to Florida State University. Students who transfer must have an overall GPA of 2.0 or higher on all college coursework considered for admission. For more information, contact Dana Smith at dsmith@pc.fsu.edu or call (850) 770-2266.
State of Florida Common Program Prerequisites
The state of Florida has identified common program prerequisites for this University degree program. Specific prerequisites are required for admission into the upper-division program and must be completed by the student at either a community college or a state university prior to being admitted to this program. Students may be admitted into the University without completing the prerequisites but may not be admitted into the program.
At the time this document was published, some common program prerequisites were being reviewed by the state of Florida and may have been revised. Please visit https://cpm.flvc.org/programs/136/3514 for a current list of state-approved prerequisites.
Computer Skills Competency
All undergraduates at Florida State University must demonstrate basic computer skills competency prior to graduation. As necessary computer competency skills vary from discipline to discipline, each major determines the courses needed to satisfy this requirement. Undergraduate majors in financial planning can satisfy this requirement by earning a grade of "C–" or higher in CGS2100 or CGS X518.
Oral Communication Competency
Students must demonstrate the ability to orally transmit ideas and information clearly. This requirement may be met through appropriate high school speech training or with an approved college-level course.
Undergraduate majors in financial planning can satisfy this requirement by earning a grade of "C–" or higher in COM3110.
Language Requirement
All students must meet the foreign language admission requirement. Students do not have an additional language requirement for the BS degree. The BA degree requires proficiency in a foreign language.
Prerequisite Coursework (21 Credit Hours/Seven Courses)
The following list represents the common program prerequisites (or their substitutions) that must be completed with a grade of C- or better for admission into the upper-division Financial Planning degree program:
ACG 2021 Introduction to Financial Accounting (3)
ACG 2071 Introduction to Managerial Accounting (3)
CGS 2100 Microcomputer Applications (3)
OR
CGS 2518 Spreadsheets for Business Environments (3)
ECO 2013 Principles of Macroeconomics (3)
ECO 2023 Principles of Microeconomics (3)
MAC 2233 Calculus for Business and Non-Physical Sciences (3)
STA 2023 Business Statistics (3)
Major Program of Studies in Financial Planning (39 Credit Hours/13 Courses)
No grade below a "C–" will be accepted for any course in the major. Maintenance of a 2.0 cumulative GPA is required. The College of Applied Studies reserves the right to refuse admission to, or discontinue enrollment, of any student at any time if faculty judge that the cannot/is not meeting the departmental or major standards.
ECO 3042 Family and Consumer Economics
FIN 3102 Investment Concepts I
FIN 3124 Introduction to Personal Financial Planning
FIN3163 Psychology for Financial Planning
FIN3173 Ethics for Financial Planning
FIN 4107 Personal Investment Concepts II
FIN 4133 Retirement Planning
TAX 4006 Personal Income Tax Concepts for Financial Planners
NOTE: Additional courses are in the process of being approved. For further information please contact our program staff/faculty.
Required Specialized Interdisciplinary Courses (21 Credit Hours)
Students select seven courses from a list of approved courses.
If courses used to satisfy major requirements are used to meet the General Education requirements, no more than four credit hours of the General Education Requirements may also be counted towards the major requirement.
Definition of Prefix
FIN—Finance
Undergraduate Courses
FIN 3102. Personal Investment Concepts I (3). Prerequisites: FIN 3124 and TAX 4006. This course offers an in-depth application of investment concepts for financial planning, including an introduction to equity and fixed income securities, investment risk and return, behavioral finance, portfolio theory, and asset valuation. Current and emerging issues, regulations, and strategies are an integral part of the course.
FIN 3163. Psychology for Financial Planning (3). Prerequisite: FIN 3124. This course examines topics within Psychology that apply to personal and family financial planning. Emphasis is placed on the six Principal Knowledge Topics within the Psychology of Financial Planning domain assessed on the CFP® exam. These topics include: client and planner attitudes, values, and biases; behavioral finance; sources of money conflict; principles of counseling; etc.
FIN 3173. Ethics for Financial Planning (3). This course is designed to apply concepts of ethics from the perspectives of philosophy, psychology, business, and the financial planning fields. Students study the use of ethics in practice, considering client needs and the ethical and legal issues that apply to the financial planning field. These include business models, sources of compensation, regulatory requirements.
FIN 4107. Personal Investment Concepts II (3). Prerequisite: FIN 3102. This course offers an in-depth application of investment strategies used by professional asset managers and institutional investors, including passive and active management techniques, stock options, derivatives, futures, and alternative asset classes. Taxation of investment securities is also covered. Current and emerging issues, regulations, and strategies are an integral part of the course.
FIN 4125. Advanced Financial Planning (3). Prerequisite: FIN 3124. This course provides an advanced and in-depth application of personal and family financial management principles with an emphasis on analyzing the elements of a personal financial plan: income and expenses, credit, savings, insurance, investments, taxes, and financial behavior. Completion demonstrates an understanding of the first give steps in financial planning.