CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Announces Record Breaking Number of Scholarships Awarded in 2021

The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning (“Center”) announced today a new single-year record of scholarships awarded to students and recent graduates working to attain CFP® certification. The Center presented 80 new scholarship awards in 2021 (an increase of 67% from 48 awards in 2020), offering more than $300,000 to recipients (an increase of 50% from more than $200,000 awarded in 2020).

This milestone brings the Center to a total of 180 scholarships awarded, providing more than $800,000 to aspiring CFP® professionals since the launch of the first scholarship program in 2016.

“2021 was another record-breaking year for the Center’s scholarship programs, with a significant increase in the number and amount awarded to aspiring CFP® professionals,” said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. “The scholarships are a key component of the Center’s mission to create a more diverse and sustainable financial planning profession. We congratulate all who received scholarships in 2021 and look forward to successful scholarship cycles in 2022 and beyond.”

“Scholarships play a critical role in building a talent pipeline to ensure that the financial planning profession can recruit and retain the talent it needs to grow,” said Center Managing Director D.A. Abrams, CAE. “We commend the scholarship sponsors for making the commitment to train new financial planners. These scholarships will help foster a more diverse workforce that reflects the changing demographics in the United States.”

The Center currently administers ten different scholarship programs launched jointly with sponsors and donors. Each scholarship program assists individuals with completing the education and exam requirements for CFP® certification. Five new scholarship programs were launched in 2021:

• Aspiriant Impact Scholarship
• The Ballentine Partners Scholarship to Create a Diverse Financial Planning Profession
• College for Financial Planning®—a Kaplan Company Scholarships for CFP® Exam Prep
• Dalton Education CFP® Exam Review Course Scholarship
• Parsec Financial CFP® Certification Diversity Scholarship

The Center’s scholarships play a critical role in building the profession’s talent pipeline and advancing workforce diversity by awarding funds to students from underrepresented populations within the financial planning profession.

For more information on the Center’s scholarships, eligibility and submission requirements, and how to apply — visit CFP Board’s website. The need for scholarships is much greater than the number of available awards. Organizations interested in establishing a branded scholarship program through the Center can contact Eddy Demirovic, CFP Board’s Director of Talent Pipeline, at edemirovic@cfpboard.org.