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Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the CFP® certification mark, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification mark, and the CFP® certification mark (with plaque design) logo in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.

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CFP Education Program Self Study

Empower Your Learning Journey

Self-Study gives you the freedom, resources, and support you need to learn on your own schedule. Ideal for independent learners who prefer text-based content delivery.

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Talk to a CFP Advisor

Asynchronous

Independent learning via textbook with email-only instructor support

Self Study

10-20 hours of coursework per week at a pace you choose

Success Coaching

A dedicated Success Coach to support you on your path

Resources

Additional study materials including Ebooks, calculator, and more

CFP education program

Self Study

Learn at your own pace through text-based learning and comprehensive resources.

Designed with one goal in mind – your success – The Dalton Review is the proven roadmap and a 2-3 month program that will guide you towards passing the prestigious CFP® exam with confidence.

Guaranteed to Pass only available for Instructor-Led Classroom Course.

Enroll

About the Course

What’s Included

Self Study with

The Dalton Review®

Personalized Support

  • Instructor access by email

  • Student Success Coach

Study Materials

  • Textbooks (e-books)

  • Testbank Question Pool

  • Calculator Book

Exam Prep

  • Textbooks (e-books)

  • Live Exam Prep (Online or In-Person)

  • Review Readiness Quiz

  • Question Bank, Mini-Cases, and Comprehensive Cases

  • Mock Exams

  • Recorded Lectures

  • Exam Readiness Predictor

  • Live Office Hours

Self Study

Personalized Support

  • Instructor access by email

  • Student Success Coach

Study Materials

  • Textbooks (e-books)

  • Testbank Question Pool

  • Calculator Book

What to Expect

A self-study course designed to put you in control of learning the content on your own schedule each week. Coaching support can keep you on-track and in-check with learning the content in the timeline.

Who This Course is For

This course is ideal if you have the drive to study independently on your own schedule and prefer to learn primarily from reading text-based materials.

Curriculum

Our curriculum is structured on the 8 principal knowledge domains you’ll be tested on for the CFP® exam. Our faculty come from the CFP Board and provide you with the best content and education in the industry.

Weeks 1–8 – Class 1

Fundamentals of Financial Planning and Insurance

The program’s first course provides the foundation of knowledge students need as working financial services professionals. It covers the financial planning process, best practices in communication, time value of money concepts, as well as the legal, ethical, and regulatory issues affecting financial planners. The course continues with a discussion of the principles of risk management and insurance, allowing the student to identify a client’s risk exposure and select appropriate risk management techniques.
Weeks 9–15 – Class 2

Investment Planning

This course provides students with an introduction to investment planning and portfolio management. It covers the theoretical and statistical rationale building a diversified portfolio, the measurement and calculation of risk and return metrics, as well as the features of stock, bonds, cash-equivalents, and alternative investments such as real estate and derivatives. Additionally, the course covers the application of these concepts when working with clients, including best practices from studies of behavioral finance.
Weeks 16-24 - Class 3

Income Tax Planning

This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to individual income tax fundamentals and the calculation of income tax. Closely following the 1040 tax return, students will learn what’s included and excluded from gross income as well as all deductions before adjusted gross income such as IRA contributions, business expenses, and HSA contributions. In addition, the course covers the tax issues and strategies surrounding business entities, disposition of property, adjusting tax basis, AMT, passive activity rules, charitable contributions, and tax minimization.
Weeks 25-32 - Class 4

Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits

This course provides an overview of retirement planning and employee benefits, including public and private retirement plans. Students are introduced to the administration, taxation and distribution rules of retirement plans as well as the characteristics of various plans including qualified, non-qualified, and other tax advantaged plans. The course also details employee group and fringe benefits and the taxation of these benefit plans. And, students learn about the unique issues individuals face in retirement and how to determine which retirement plan to recommend to a client based on the client’s goals.
Weeks 33-40 - Class 5

Estate Planning

This course provides an overview of estate planning laws and strategies. Issues discussed include the various types of property interest and the probate process. In addition, students learn about gift tax and how to align a client’s gifting strategy with their goals. The course also covers the estate tax system including what’s included and excluded from the gross estate, various deductions to determine the taxable estate, and calculating the potential estate tax. In addition, students learn various strategies to minimize estate tax consequences through the use of power of appointment trusts, by-pass trusts, and QTIP trusts.
45 Hours

Capstone

In the final course of the program, students learn and apply various approaches to analyzing, developing, and presenting financial plan recommendations for clients. Course information is presented through a series of videos, including software tutorial, and live virtual classroom sessions with the course instructor. Students use software to help prepare financial statements, conduct ratio analysis, and identify financial strengths and weaknesses. Through the use of representative case studies, students apply the knowledge and strategies they learned in earlier courses. The capstone course culminates with students preparing and presenting a comprehensive financial plan.
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FAQ’s

No, you can start the program without any experience or knowledge of financial planning. It’s our job to build you up as a financial advisor throughout the education process, so a fair number of our students are starting from square one.

We generally recommend that you choose a university partner based on regional appeal, but you can choose any of our university partners to select the one you feel would resonate most with the clients you plan to serve.

It is recommended that students have an operating system Windows 7 or higher or Mac OS 10.6 or higher. Students must be able to run, install, and configure programs and be able to store and retrieve documents and files on their computer. If you are unsure if you have appropriate permissions to save files to your computer, please contact your system administrator.

Online materials are accessible on portable devices if you choose the e-book option during purchase.

The program is designed to be completed in 6-12 months, depending on your familiarity with the materials and how many hours you spend studying per week.

All students who enroll in the Self Study CFP® Certification Program will have access to their online classroom for 12 months, beginning on the day of purchase. Students that have not completed the program have the opportunity to extend access with the options below. Students who do not complete coursework within 4 years must repurchase unfinished courses to regain access.

  • 3 Months: $200
  • 6 Months: $375
  • 12 Months: $700

Students can submit questions here. Our faculty will answer questions within 2 business days.

Students are issued a pass/fail based upon a weighted average of exams given during each course. Generally, two online exams are given for each course: a midterm worth 40% of the final grade, and a final exam worth 60%. Students must achieve a total grade of 70% or higher to pass each course.

If students fail an exam, they will have an opportunity to take a makeup exam. The makeup exams are different versions testing the same content. We will always take the higher of the scores between the normal and makeup exams. If you are failing after taking all four exam attempts for a course, we have a course remediation process to help you bring your grade to passing.

After completing a course, students will automatically receive a letter of completion via email to be used for reimbursement purposes if applicable. After passing all courses, students will receive a certificate of completion from the university. Certificates are only available to students who take four or more courses.

Talk to an advisor today.

Our advisors are your go-to for everything CFP®. Need course recommendations? Extend a course? We’ve got you covered.

Office hours: M-F, 8am-5pm EST

1-844-721-7503Request More Information

What students are saying

"I recommend Dalton's CFP study program to anyone who is planning to sit for the test. It is thorough, well guided, and offers many resources for individual support. I can honestly say that I went into the exam KNOWING that I was going to pass."
Amanda B.
"It came down to the enrollment advisor's responsiveness in addressing my questions/concerns as primary and then the ability to be flexible with online courses and working through the coursework. Absolutely would recommend Dalton! After having taken the exam (and passed!) last week, I appreciate Dalton's questions even more as they were more realistic to what I saw on the exam. Thank you! Keep up the good work!"
Morgan B.
"Combined with hard work and dedication, Dalton Education made sure I had what was needed in order to succeed. Without their experience, diligence, and structure, I would have spent more time worrying about what to study and when rather than putting in the hours needed to pass. Dalton knows how to get it done the first time around!"
Monica Y.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed the Dalton Education CFP study program. I completed the 10 week review for the exam, including a 4 day live review. I successfully passed the CFP exam and I owe my success to Dalton and their incredible team of instructors. The Dalton materials, coursework, virtual classroom and schedule are not only intuitive and user friendly for a working mother, but they are top notch. I felt prepared for the exam, and after passing the exam I realized how Dalton had not only prepared me for everything but they over prepared me. I have a deep understanding for financial planning, and I look forward to taking my career to the next level. Thank you Dalton! A huge shout out to a team of highly intelligent and helpful instructors!"
Lindsay W.
"Dalton provided me the materials, resources, and structure that I needed to complete my certification. From the beginning, I greatly appreciated a detailed schedule for staying on track with the material while allowing you the flexibility between deadlines to manage your work and personal life alongside my certification work. It helped me plan study time accordingly and gave me a practical benchmark for preparation time. That said, each professor teaching the material stood out to me whether it was because of their experience with the CFP exam, pedigree, and/or knowledge and presentation of the material."
Forrest P.
"What I love about the CFP course through Dalton is the flexibility. I have co-workers who are taking the program through other providers and they are stuck all day on a Saturday reviewing and taking tests – not for me. Also, the exam prep materials are amazing! I love the flash cards and the Quick Sheets. The instructors are amazing and I have felt very supported along the way. I would definitely recommend Dalton to others."
Jayln P.
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Applied Learning Library™ is now CFP CE and NASBA CE approved + 5 new courses just added.
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