EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business has been named a CFA Program Partner by CFA Institute, a global membership organization that awards the Chartered Financial Analyst, or CFA, designation.
As a result, a select group of finance majors will be academically prepared to take the prestigious CFA exam soon after they graduate – and they will be given a CFA scholarship to cover most of the exam fees.
Robert B. Duncan, the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Dean, said recognition as a CFA Program Partner signals to potential students, employers, and the marketplace that the Broad School’s curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and is well-suited to preparing students to sit for the three levels of CFA examinations.
“The CFA Institute will enrich our students’ educational experience and prepare them with additional credentials to start their finance careers,” said Duncan. “We are pleased to be one of the select business schools that have been given this opportunity.”
Geoffrey Booth, the Frederick S. Addy Distinguished Chair in Finance, said the Broad School is ideally positioned to have students take advantage of the new program. With 630 juniors and seniors in the Broad School’s finance major, it is the largest among the school’s undergraduate offerings and attracts top students, 35 percent of which graduate with honors (a minimum 3.5 GPA on a 4.0-point scale).
“We have committed to providing a strong, hands-on learning environment for finance majors in both our undergraduate and full-time MBA programs,” said Booth, who also is chairperson of the Department of Finance. “Students have access to a state-of-the-art Financial Analysis Laboratory to work on projects. As part of one of our courses, they manage a $3.5 million Student Investment Fund. In addition, the top undergraduate students may also apply to be members of the Financial Markets Institute.”
The Financial Markets Institute provides faculty advising, career development and professional mentoring opportunities for select students who are focused on a future in financial services.
Booth also credits the school’s Finance Advisory Board with helping to drive student excellence. The board includes top finance leaders from firms across the country – both alumni and friends of the college. “These highly successful professionals have been selfless in terms of giving their time and valuable advice to our students,” said Booth. “They helped guide us through the process of becoming a CFA Program Partner.”
“Students in this program are exposed to the Candidate Body of Knowledge, concepts and principles that have been identified by investment experts worldwide as essential to global practice,” said Bob Johnson, managing director of the education division at CFA Institute. “By mastering these fundamentals of the CFA Program, students will be well on their way to earning the highly-valued CFA charter.”
The initiative offers students access to CFA Institute textbooks, journals, Web casts, and other educational resources. They also benefit from professional development events held in conjunction with the CFA Society of Detroit and the CFA West Michigan Society, the local membership bodies for CFA Institute candidates, charterholders, and members.
The CFA Program sets a standard for developing the skills, standards, competence, and integrity of financial analysts, portfolio managers, investment advisers, and other investment professionals worldwide. It is widely considered the investment profession’s most rigorous credentialing program. Administered in English, the CFA curriculum and examinations are identical worldwide. Fewer than one in five candidates who begin the program successfully complete it and go on to earn the coveted CFA charter, the “gold standard” for investment professionals.
The CFA Institute’s partnership initiative was launched in April 2006 with the announcement of Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford as the inaugural CFA Program Partner.
For more on the CFA Program Partner initiative, visit www.cfainstitute.org.
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Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 16 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.