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Major · Business, Management & Marketing

Build the credentialed track into wealth and personal financial advising

Financial Planning and Services is a CFP-Board-aligned undergraduate major focused on advising individuals on investments, retirement, insurance, estate, and tax planning. About 713 degrees are awarded each year across 61 colleges, almost entirely at the bachelor’s level, with median five-year earnings near $80,784.

Schools offering
61
Annual completions
713
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$81k

About this major

Financial Planning and Services prepares students to advise individuals and families on investments, retirement, insurance, estate, and tax planning. The CIP definition centers on planning and managing the financial interests and growth of individuals, with explicit instruction in portfolio management, estate planning, insurance, tax planning, and client relations. Coursework is structured around the CFP Board’s topic outline because many of these programs are CFP-Board registered — the bachelor’s itself satisfies the educational prerequisite to sit for the CFP exam. Students build written financial plans for case-study clients and translate tax law, Social Security rules, and product features into actionable advice.

The major rewards a particular kind of student: someone comfortable with quantitative work but more energized by client conversations than by spreadsheet-only analysis. Strong communication, patience to walk a client through unfamiliar concepts, and an interest in households as the unit of analysis matter as much as technical content. Students drawn to the corporate side of finance — capital markets, investment banking, valuation — typically belong in Finance, General (CIP 52.0801) instead, which is far larger at about 42,200 annual completions.

The scale of the major is modest. About 713 degrees are awarded annually across 61 colleges, nearly all at the bachelor’s level, with the University of Wisconsin-Madison the largest single producer at 164 completions. Career destinations cluster around Personal Financial Advisor at a $102,140 median wage with 9.6% projected growth, and Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents at $78,140. Roughly 40% of practicing advisors are projected to retire within the decade, supporting persistent demand for graduates who complete the credential pipeline this degree begins.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents $78k +3.3% Bachelor's degree
Personal financial advisors $102k +9.6% Bachelor's degree
Business teachers, postsecondary $97k +5.7% Doctoral or professional degree
Credit counselors $50k +3.3% Bachelor's degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$81k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$52k

Bachelor's

$81k

Who this major is for

Good signs this major fits: advising individuals on consequential decisions about retirement, taxes, and family wealth interests you more than corporate valuation or trading; the CFP-Board-registered curriculum offers a direct credential path that maps cleanly onto a recognized professional license; the relationship and communication side of finance suits you better than writing reports for internal management; the demand tailwind from a workforce where about 40% of advisors are projected to retire within the decade looks attractive; and either the salaried paraplanner route at a fee-only RIA or the commission-driven development track at a wirehouse or insurance firm sounds workable.

Reasons to pause: entry-level reality at wirehouses (Merrill, Morgan Stanley, Edward Jones) and insurance-affiliated firms (Northwestern Mutual, MassMutual) is closer to commission-based business development than to advisory work for the first two to three years, with documented attrition above 50%. The bachelor’s alone does not make you a CFP — you still need to pass the exam, log about 6,000 hours of qualifying experience, and clear an ethics review. If corporate finance or capital markets is the actual interest, Finance, General (CIP 52.0801, 42,214 completions) is the much larger and better-suited major. Investments and Securities (52.0807) is the narrower alternative for analysis-focused students within the same CIP-4 family.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Financial Planning and Services

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI 0 164 164
Utah Valley University Orem, UT 0 46 46
University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 0 44 44
Roger Williams University Bristol, RI 0 38 38
University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO 0 35 35
Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN 0 32 32
Kansas State University Manhattan, KS 0 31 31
University of Delaware Newark, DE 0 25 25
University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 0 23 23
University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH 0 22 22
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Finance, General

42,214 completions/yr

Banking and Financial Support Services

497 completions/yr

Investments and Securities

152 completions/yr

Finance and Financial Management Services, Other

83 completions/yr

Public Finance

23 completions/yr

Financial Risk Management

2 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the Financial Planning and Services field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is Financial Planning and Services worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do Financial Planning and Services majors actually study?
Coursework moves through portfolio construction, retirement and estate planning, income tax planning, risk management and insurance, and the regulatory and ethical framework that governs personal advice. The curriculum mirrors the CFP Board’s topic outline because most of these programs are CFP-Board-registered, meaning the degree itself satisfies the educational prerequisite to sit for the exam. Students spend significant time on case-based financial plans for hypothetical clients, and learn how to translate tax law, Social Security rules, and product features into a written plan. The work is more applied than theoretical relative to a general Finance degree, with heavier emphasis on individual households than on corporate capital markets.
How is this different from a Finance major?
Finance, General (CIP 52.0801) is the much larger sibling at about 42,200 completions per year and prepares students broadly for corporate finance, banking, capital markets, and investment analysis. Financial Planning and Services (52.0804) is a narrower, consumer-facing track centered on advising individuals — the typical destination is personal financial advisor or wealth management associate rather than corporate analyst. The other meaningful distinction is the credential pipeline: CIP 52.0804 programs are commonly CFP-Board registered, which Finance, General programs usually are not. If your interest is corporate valuation, investment banking, or financial management, Finance is the better fit; if it is sitting across the table from individual clients managing their retirement and tax picture, this is the more direct route.
Will I be a CFP when I graduate?
No. The bachelor’s from a CFP-Board-registered program satisfies the educational requirement, which is one of four CFP requirements. You also need to pass the CFP exam — a 170-question, two-session test administered three times a year — complete 6,000 hours (about three years) of qualifying professional experience or 4,000 hours of an apprenticeship, and pass an ethics and background review. Most graduates finish the degree, sit for the exam within a year or two, and then earn the marks after building experience in their first advisory role. The degree opens the door to the credential rather than conferring it.
What does an entry-level job actually look like?
Two main shapes exist. The first is a planning associate or paraplanner role at a fee-only registered investment advisor or independent planning firm — salaried work supporting senior advisors with plan preparation and client analysis. The second, far more common, is an entry-level advisor track at a wirehouse (Merrill, Morgan Stanley, Edward Jones, Ameriprise) or insurance-affiliated firm (Northwestern Mutual, MassMutual), which is structured as commission-based business development with a small base salary and a quota for building a book of clients. Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents, the SOC code that captures much of this work, reports a median wage of $78,140. Industry attrition for the wirehouse and insurance entry tracks is well-documented to exceed 50% in the first three years; survivors typically transition into salaried advisory roles or build a fee-based book.
How variable is the pay?
More variable than the median suggests. Personal financial advisors carry a $102,140 median wage with 9.6% projected growth — a strong headline. Beneath that, compensation tracks closely to assets under management or commission production, which means modest first-year earnings during book-building, followed by widening gaps between the bottom and top quartiles. Fee-only RIA channels offer steadier salaries; wirehouse and insurance channels offer higher ceilings but more variance. The aging of the existing advisor workforce — roughly 40% are projected to retire within the decade — supports persistent demand for new entrants regardless of which channel you pick.
What credentials beyond the CFP do employers expect?
For most client-facing roles you will sit for FINRA’s Series 7 (general securities) and Series 66 or Series 65 (state law and investment adviser representative) within your first months on the job — these are the licenses required to recommend or sell securities. Insurance-affiliated firms add state life, health, and variable annuity licenses on top. Employers almost always sponsor and pay for these exams. The CFP itself usually comes 2-4 years into the career once the qualifying experience hours have accumulated. Some advisors layer on additional designations later — Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) or Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) — but the Series exams plus the CFP cover the credential requirements for most career paths in this field.