The College of Business Administration has been named a program partner of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute, the global association of investment professionals.
The partnership means that Fordham will offer degree programs that cover at least 70 percent of the material necessary to achieve CFA certification.
“This offers us amazing benefits,” said Pat Walters, Ph.D., director of the CFA partnering program and clinical associate professor of accounting. “For example, we’ll be able to offer courses in financial statement analysis and offer a mock exam. It will give our students a leg up.”
The partnership also will present the opportunity for Fordham students to apply for scholarships toward the actual certification exam, Walters said.
CFA sets the standard for developing the competence and integrity of financial analysts, portfolio managers, investment advisers and other investment professionals worldwide. It is considered the profession’s most rigorous credentialing program.
Administered in English, the CFA curriculum and examinations are identical in every country. Fewer than one in five candidates who begin the program go on to earn the coveted CFA charter, the “gold standard” for investment professionals.
“The CFA is the hardest exam I’ve ever taken,” Walters said.
Fordham’s recognition as a CFA program partner signals to potential students, employers and the marketplace that the University’s curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and prepares students to sit for the CFA examinations.
“CFA partner status provides additional academic and professional development opportunities for CBA students interested in distinguishing themselves in the field of finance and more broadly in the financial services arena,” said Donna Rapaccioli, Ph.D., dean of CBA. “With New York City as our backdrop, our strong faculty, our specialized bachelor’s in finance, the new investment banking honors program and the new ‘trading room,’ CBA continues to be an exciting academic environment for our students.”
