When you choose the Financial Planning option within the Finance major, you prepare to help individuals and families navigate some of life’s most important financial decisions. You will build expertise in retirement planning, investments, taxation, estate planning and wealth management while developing the communication and analytical skills employers value in client-focused financial careers.
Designed to prepare you for the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) exam, this option combines specialized coursework with hands-on learning and a strong foundation in finance. You will graduate ready to pursue careers in financial advising, wealth management and related fields while helping clients build long-term financial confidence.
You can declare the Financial Planning Option when applying to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln on the undergraduate application or when meeting with an academic advisor.
Program Features
CFP Exam Preparation
Coursework in the Financial Planning option is designed to prepare you for the CFP exam while helping you build expertise in retirement planning, tax strategy, estate planning, investments and risk management. You can begin preparing for your professional credentials while completing your undergraduate degree.
Learn from CFP Professionals
Students benefit from a strong combination of faculty expertise and real-world industry perspective. Many financial planning courses are taught by professionals with the CFP certification, bringing firsthand knowledge of the profession’s standards and expectations.
Industry Connections and Hands-On Learning
Through support from Charles Schwab Foundation and Schwab Advisor Services, you gain opportunities to engage with leaders in the Registered Investment Advisor community and further prepare for certification and careers in financial planning.
A Direct Pathway to CFP Certification
A Direct Pathway to CFP Certification
The Financial Planning option is a CFP Board Registered Program within the Finance major. That means you'll complete the CFP education requirement as part of your bachelor's degree rather than paying for a separate certificate program after graduation.
You'll gain the technical knowledge, ethical foundation and client-focused skills needed to help individuals and families navigate some of life's most important financial decisions, including retirement, investments, taxes, insurance and wealth transfer.
Whether your goal is to work for a wealth management firm, bank, registered investment advisor (RIA), family office or build your own practice someday, Nebraska prepares you to take the next step.
Demand for financial planners continues to grow as an estimated $124 trillion in U.S. wealth is expected to transfer between generations and within families by 2048, the largest wealth transfer in history. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of personal financial advisors will grow 10% through 2034, while McKinsey estimates that the industry will face a projected shortage of up to 100,000 advisors as an estimated 110,000 experienced professionals retire.
CFP Certification: The Gold Standard in Financial Planning
The CFP certification is one of the most respected credentials in the financial planning profession. Employers, clients and regulators recognize CFP professionals as trusted experts who can help individuals and families make informed financial decisions.
Median total compensation for CFP professionals is $185,000 (CFP Board 2025 Compensation Study). Even with fewer than five years of experience, the median CFP earns $107,500, a six-figure start.
Careers for CFP Professionals
- Wealth Management
- Financial Planning
- Financial Advising
- Retirement Planning
- Private Banking
- Family Office Services
- Insurance and Risk Management
- Investment Advisory Services
The Four Steps to CFP Certification
1. Education
Complete a CFP Board Registered Program and earn a bachelor's degree
2. Exam
Pass the CFP Certification Exam (170 questions, 6 hours, with a recent national pass rate around 65%)
3. Experience
Complete 6,000 hours of professional financial planning experience or 4,000 hours through an apprenticeship pathway
4. Ethics
Commit to CFP Board ethical standards and pass a background check
The Nebraska Advantage for CFP Certification
Save Time and Money
Nebraska students complete the CFP education requirement while earning their finance degree, giving them a significant head start toward certification. Students who do not graduate from a CFP Board-Registered Program typically spend an additional $4,000 to $8,000 and 6 to 12 months completing a post-degree certificate program before they are eligible to sit for the CFP exam. Nebraska students who choose to major in Finance with this Financial Planning Option avoid that extra time and expense.
Save 2,000 Hours With Apprenticeship Pathway
Do financial planning for real clients alongside practicing financial planners. The apprenticeship pathway reduces the CFP's experience requirement from 6,000 to 4,000 hours, so you can complete the CFP requirements faster than peers from non-registered programs. Students graduate eligible to sit for the CFP exam immediately, with a head start on the experience requirement and a credential the market actively rewards.
Coursework
To earn your bachelor’s degree in Finance with the Financial Planning option, you’ll take 120 credit hours of classes. That’s four to five classes a semester, on average. The Financial Planning option includes an eight-course sequence that covers all CFP Board Principal Knowledge Topics:
FINA 361: Principles of Finance
Scope and content of the finance specialization; survey of the major theoretical issues; the financial instruments; analysis of the capital management problems; and development of criteria for financial decision making.
FINA 363: Investments
Survey of investment risks and rewards, the operation of the securities business, and an introduction to the problems of qualitative and quantitative analysis and portfolio selection.
FINA 367: Fixed-Income Investments
This course is designed to provide students with a basic understanding of fixed-income markets, fixed-income securities, and tools employed by market participants to the analysis of fixed-income investments. The main topics include (1) debt and money markets, (2) interest rate behavior and determination, (3) bond valuation, (4) managing bond risk, (5) bonds with embedded options, and (6) mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities.
FINA 412: Life and Health Insurance
The economic functions of life insurance. The human-life value concept and the basic forms of life insurance and annuities used in insuring life values. Life insurance pricing, functional company operations, legal aspects, and contractual provision. Health and other specialized forms of human-life value insurance.
FINA 420: Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits
Evaluate how the full range of retirement plans and employee benefits work - qualified and nonqualified plans, 401(k)s, IRAs, pensions, group insurance, Social Security, and Medicare - and how each fits an individual's or a business's goals. Apply time value of money and tax planning techniques to real client cases, designing retirement and benefit strategies for individuals, families, and business owners.
ACCT 312: Individual Income Tax
Introduction to federal income tax law with emphasis on the tax implications of business and investment activities.
FINA 421: Estate Planning
The efficient management and transfer of wealth, consistent with the client's goals. The legal, tax, financial and non-financial aspects of this process, including trusts, wills, probate advanced directives, charitable giving, wealth transfers and related taxes.
FINA 422: Capstone in Financial Planning
Analysis of the professional issues in financial planning, including ethical considerations, regulation and certification requirements, written communication skills, professional responsibility, and client-centered financial behavioral issues. Includes completion of mini-cases and a comprehensive financial planning case.
Capstone Experience
In Capstone in Financial Planning (FINA 422), you'll develop a comprehensive financial plan for a client. Integrate investments, retirement planning, taxation, insurance and estate planning. which is the same holistic approach used by practicing financial planners and emphasized on the CFP exam.
“The retirement and savings modeling we learned gave me the confidence to build and adjust my own financial plans after graduation, and I still use versions of those models today. This Financial Planning track equips students with both the technical skills and the financial mindset needed to create lasting financial stability for themselves and others.
— Austin Cramer, '25
Structured Finance Associate, KPMG
“The average age for those passing the CFP exam is 26. This program allows Huskers to get an earlier start in the financial planning industry as they pair their Big Ten education with a more focused approach to financial planning.
— Brett Burchett, ’20, CFP®, CKA®, AIF®, CPFA®
Wealth Advisor, FP Wealth Management, Inc.
Next Steps
You can declare the Financial Planning Option when applying to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln on the undergraduate application or when meeting with an academic advisor.
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