Colleges and Universities: Paperless Exam Application

CFP Board has made great strides in reducing or eliminating the paperwork involved in its certification processes. One such effort is the move to paperless applications for the CFP® Certification Examination. Applicants for the exam may now apply online from CFP Board's Web site, and CFP Board-Registered Programs can assist their students in completing their exam applications by providing CFP Board with electronic verification of completed programs.

When CFP Board verifies an exam applicant's eligibility to apply for the CFP® Certification Examination directly (and electronically) with a CFP Board-Registered program, the applicant does not need to provide CFP Board with copies of transcripts, score reports or diplomas to complete the exam registration. Additionally, the CFP Board-Registered Program is relieved of the burden to quickly produce certificates and/or letters of completion to students so they can include them with their exam application forms.

CFP Board has identified seven key pieces of data that will allow CFP Board to make a positive match between an exam applicant and your program graduate list. They are as follows:

• Student's first name
• Student's middle initial/name (if available)
• Student's last name
• Last four digits of the student's Social Security number*
• Completion date of the program (month/day/year)
• CFP Board-assigned registered program identification number for your program
• Name of your program

*If your program does not track the Social Security numbers of students, please contact CFP Board for alternate options.

This data can be transmitted to CFP Board in an Excel spreadsheet. To receive a sheet with the pre-populated header record for your institution, please contact CFP Board at education@CFPBoard.org or call 800-487-1497.

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