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Financial Planning

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BBA Degree – Code #1938

Mark Bloxsom, Program Coordinator
Email address: bloxsomj@alfredstate.edu 

IACBE logo AccreditedPersonal financial services is one of the most lucrative and rapidly expanding professions in existence. By combining expertise in estate planning, investment planning, risk management, insurance evaluation, tax planning, retirement planning, and employee benefits planning, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional offers one-stop comprehensive expert advice that would have formerly required a variety of different professionals. As a student completing this four-year degree, you will be eligible to sit for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ examination. While there are numerous job opportunities for employment in various types of financial institutions - banks, investment firms, and the insurance industry - perhaps the greatest earnings potential lies in becoming a self-employed CFP® practitioner.

Advantages

  • Students receiving their AAS or AS degree in virtually any business concentration will be able to seamlessly transfer into this program and receive the BBA degree in four more semesters, which includes a full- semester internship in the field.
  • Students develop the ability to integrate and synthesize the knowledge identified by the CFP® Board’s required topic list and gained from core courses, into decision making, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
  • This program is registered with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.

Program Student Learning Outcomes

  • Demonstrate competence in domestic and global environments within the principle functional areas of business.
  • Analyze personal finance problems and devise solutions using critical thinking, decision-making processes, and decision-support tools.
  • Formulate a financial plan while integrating the major functional areas of business and personal finance.
  • Incorporate software, technology, and information systems into personal finance.
  • Identify comprehensive personal finance issues and communicate findings and solutions.
  • Identify the personal finance environment in relation to the current financial, legal, economic, and social environments.
  • Analyze the role of ethics, government regulations, and legalities in personal financial planning processes.

Occupational Opportunities

  • Banking
  • Insurance
  • Investment firms
  • Financial planning firms
  • Attorneys' offices
  • Self-employment
  • Employee benefits specialists
  • Accounting firms
  • Wealth management firms
  • Broker-dealer (securities) firms

Employment Statistics

Employment and continuing education rate of 100 percent – 100 percent are employed.

Related Programs

Entrance Requirements/recommendations

Required: Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2

Required Equipment

A tier 1 laptop computer is required for students entering this degree program. Laptop specifications are available at www.alfredstate.edu/required-laptops. 

Office of Accessibility Services

Students who believe they need a reasonable accommodation to properly participate in this program may contact Melanie Ryan in the Office of Accessibility Services. This office may be contacted by email at oas@alfredstate.edu  or by phone at 607-587-4506. Please keep in mind that some accommodations may take time to implement, so students seeking accommodations are encouraged to contact OAS as early as possible.

Financial Planning - BBA Degree

TYPICAL EIGHT-SEMESTER PROGRAM

First

ACCT 1124 Financial Accounting 4
COMP 1503 Writing Studies 3
MKTG 2073 Principles of Marketing 3
MATH xxx3 Stats I or Stats Methods 3
CISY xxx3 Computer Elective 3
      16

Second

ACCT 2224 Managerial Accounting 4
BUAD 2033 Business Communication 3
GLST 2113 Global & Diverse Perspectives 3
SPCH 1083 Public Speaking 3
    OR  
SPCH xxx3 Effective Speaking Equivalent 3
MATH xxx3 Gen. Ed. Math Elective 3
      16

Third

BUAD 3153 Fundamentals of Management 3
BUAD 3043 Business Law I 3
BUAD 4203 Intro Personal Financial Plan 3
ECON 1013 Principles of Macroeconomics 3
BUAD 4133 Investments 3
      15

Fourth

MKTG 1063 Principles of Sales 3
ECON 2023 Principles of Microeconomics 3
BUAD 4193 Insurance and Risk Management 3
LITR  xxx3 Literature Elective 3
XXXX xxx3 Open Elective 3
XXXX xxx3 Gen. Ed. Natural Science Elective 3
      18

Fifth

ACCT 3453 Tax Accounting I 3
BUAD 5003 Management Communications 3
BUAD 5023 Human Resource Management 3
FSMA 7023 Estate Planning 3
XXXX xxx3 Business Elective - Upper 3
      15

Sixth

FSMA 5003 Investment Planning 3
FSMA 6003 Employee Benefit Planning 3
XXXX xxx3 Business Elective 3
XXXX xxx3 Business Elective 3
XXXX xxx3 Gen Ed/LAS Elective 3
      15

Seventh

FSMA 7123 Persnl Finan Planning Capstone 3
BUAD 5033 Retirement Planning 3
FSMA 5103 Tax Planning 3
FSMA 7103 Money & Banking 3
XXXX xxx3 Business Elective - Upper 3
      15

Eighth

FSMA 8112 Financial Planning Internship 12

Be advised that a prior felony conviction may impede a student's ability to participate in an internship and complete the program.

 

 

Graduation Requirements

  • 122 credit hours
  • 30 credit hours of the 45 upper-level credit hours for this degree must be taken at Alfred State
  • Cumulative overall index of at least 2.0
  • Seven of the 10 SUNY approved General Education categories must be fulfilled 

End-of-Program Exam Requirements

All students are required to complete an end-of-program exam. This exam will be taken in the capstone course for the student’s specific program in FSMA 7123 Personal Financial Planning Capstone. The end-of-program exam will also be considered an assignment in the capstone course. The benefit of taking the end-of-program exam is to test the student’s knowledge at the time of graduation. Students may include the progress from the end-of-program exams on their resume. Taking the end-of-program exam will have some fees, which are currently $45 per exam. Exams will be taken once and they will impact the student’s capstone course grade by 5%. Please refer to the syllabi for the relevant capstone course to know the grading scale for the end-of-program exam.

The end-of-program exams are required, not optional.

Information on how to take the exams will be given in the course prior to the end-of-program exam.

How should I prepare for the assessment exam?

The comprehensive end-of-program exam covers topics taught throughout the degree program, which are aligned to the topics required for accreditation. The preparation for the exam comes from your educational experience with the school, specifically through the required courses for your degree. The exam assesses the foundational knowledge areas for your discipline.

Learn about specific knowledge areas tested (pdf).

Assessment Results

2017-18 Summary (pdf)