A new designation has put the University of Rhode Island’s College of Business Administration in some privileged company.
URI’s finance program has been named a Chartered Financial Analyst Program Partner by the CFA Institute, an international association of investment professionals that awards the much-sought-after CFA designation to individuals.
URI is one of only 13 universities in the United States that have been named a CFA partner, and the only one in Rhode Island.
The partnership, made official Nov. 26, means students in the finance program now will have access to CFA Institute textbooks, journals, Web casts and other educational resources, according to URI officials. That will give them an advantage when they take the rigorous set of exams required to become a chartered financial analyst, school officials said.
“This designation will differentiate our finance program from others in the region and will be extremely beneficial in recruiting high school students who are interested in finance,” said Mark Higgins, dean of the business school. “And [it will] strengthen our ties with the Providence business community.”
While Boston University’s Master of Science in Investment Management program was named a CFA Program Partner in April 2006, the finance program at URI’s College of Business Administration is so far the only undergraduate program in the Northeast to receive partnership status, Higgins said.
URI earned the designation after the CFA Institute determined that the finance curriculum for a bachelor’s degree covers at least 70 percent of the CFA Institute’s “candidate body of knowledge” and matches the organization’s ethical and professional standards. Higgins said graduates will be prepared to sit for the first level of CFA exams.
Those exams aren’t easy.
The institute’s three-year testing program requires investment professionals to pass three levels of exams and meet other requirements before earning a CFA charter. In June 2006, only 40 percent of the participants passed the first level of exams, the institute said. Of those who took the next level of exams, 48 percent passed.
Still, record numbers of people are seeking a CFA charter – 98,000 around the world in June – because the title makes professionals much more desirable to employers.
The CFA Institute launched its partnership program in April 2006, naming the Said Business School at the University of Oxford in England as the first participant. Since then, more than 40 schools have been added internationally.
In the United States, other CFA Partner schools include: Cornell University, Marquette University, the University of North Carolina and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).
Higgins said URI’s effort to obtain the CFA Partner designation began earlier this year when the College of Business Administration changed the requirements for graduation. Before, finance students taking advanced classes had three required courses and five electives. Now, all students are required to take the same eight finance courses to graduate.
And there’s a new emphasis on preparing students for the CFA exams, something the institute looked for in adding URI to the partner program.
“It’s a signal to the market that the type of students we produce is high quality.” •
