Financial Planning

Types of Degrees Financial Planning Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many financial planning & services graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	3,733
Bachelor’s Degree	687
Graduate Certificate	427
Master’s Degree	183
Doctor’s Degree	12
Associate Degree	11
Undergraduate Certificate	1

What Financial Planning Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to financial planning were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Financial Planning Majors

Financial Planning majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills for Financial Planning Majors

When studying financial planning, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Financial Planning Majors

As a financial planning major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Financial Planning Major?

People with a financial planning degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Business Professors	18.0%	$83,960
Credit Counselors	13.8%	$45,180
Personal Financial Advisors	14.9%	$88,890
Sales Agents, Financial Services	6.2%	$64,120
Sales Agents, Securities and Commodities	6.2%	$64,120

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Financial Planning?

This major tends to be male dominated. About 70% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of financial planning majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	28
Black or African American	26
Hispanic or Latino	57
White	522
International Students	20
Other Races/Ethnicities	34

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Financial Planning, too. About 2.9% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Financial Planning

Some degrees associated with financial planning may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to financial planning have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	14.8%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.4%
Some College Courses	5.9%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	5.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	37.3%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	6.7%
Master’s Degree	6.6%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.1%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	2.2%
Doctoral Degree	18.3%

Online Financial Planning Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	6	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	5	2
Bachelor’s Degree	23	12
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	27	10
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	3	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Financial Planning

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to financial planning.

Major	Number of Grads
Finance	50,972
Banking and Financial Support Services	1,048
Other Finance and Financial Management Services	395
Investments and Securities	374
International Finance	141
Public Finance	25
Credit Management	2
Financial Risk Management	2

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Dave Dugdale under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.