First graduate from Certificate in Financial Planning program details valuable experience

One of the students that benefitted greatly from the new certificate was William Parker, a finance major in the Harbert College of Business, who completed the certificate in May and graduated with his bachelor's degree in business administration and finance.

“I am really proud to be part of the first group of students to earn the Certificate in Financial Planning at Auburn and taking on the extra coursework was definitely worth it,” Parker said. “I learned a lot and gained real value from the experience.

"If you are even slightly interested in financial planning, I would highly recommend going for it. It will help you stand out, and you will walk away with knowledge that is useful in the real world and valuable in your career. It will also put you in a strong position to pass the CFP exam.” 

Starting the program in summer 2024 as a full-time student and working part-time at Railroad Investment Group in Opelika, Alabama, Parker said his goal was to deepen his knowledge and gain more hands-on expertise in the field. He believed the certificate program would not only help him achieve that but also move him closer to reaching his long-term goal of becoming a CFP professional.

Leading the coursework is Di Qing, a philanthropy and nonprofit studies lecturer and the coordinator for the certificate program. Parker credited Qing for his teaching style, noting he presented the coursework in a way that reflects how it applies in real financial planning scenarios.

“Professor Qing did a great job not only teaching the material but also showing us how to apply it in the real world,” Parker said. “He made it a point to help us truly understand the content, and I found myself using what I learned in class directly at work. It gave me a practical edge and built my confidence professionally.

"The coursework for the certificate was some of the toughest material I studied during my time at Auburn, but it was taught in a way that made it stick. That made a big difference for me.”

The end result helped Parker achieve his goal of passing the CFP exam in July — making him the first person from Auburn’s new program to do so. With the background knowledge he gained from the certificate, Parker said he was well prepared to pass the CFP exam.

“It felt like I already had the foundation built, and the review process just helped me sharpen what I already knew,” he said. “Going into a 300-hour study plan can feel overwhelming, but because of the certificate program and the way the material was taught, I felt confident from the beginning.

"I truly believe this program prepared me to succeed, and I would not have felt as ready for the exam without it.”