Recipients of TD Ameritrade’s NextGen Grant Program celebrate at the closing bell of the NASDAQ exchange in New York City on July 18, 2017. From far right is Tuffy, Cal State Fullerton’s official mascot; Saba Afridi ’18 (finance); and David Nanigian, associate professor of finance and director of Mihaylo College’s Personal Financial Planning program.

Mihaylo College’s Personal Financial Planning program is the recipient of the 2017 TD Ameritrade Institutional NextGen Grant Program for Established Programs. The $50,000 grant will help the college provide top-notch financial planning education for students while making a positive impact on the Southern California community.

Mihaylo College’s seven-course Personal Financial Planning program received a boost this month with a $50,000 institutional grant from TD Ameritrade, one of the world’s leading brokerage firms.

The Mihaylo program was selected for the 2017 TD Ameritrade Institutional NextGen Grant Program for Established Programs due to the strength of its proposal, which included an articulation of the program’s 26-year history, mission, measurable goals and a timeline to complete a project in one year.

“Like an elephant jumping on a trampoline, this generous grant will have an enormous impact on the prominence of Cal State Fullerton’s program,” says David Nanigian, associate professor of finance and TD Ameritrade director of personal financial planning. “The $50,000 grant award will be truly transformative, as it will markedly advance my personal mission of educating my hardworking students to become the best personal financial planners that they can be!”

Nanigian and his student assistant, Saba Afridi ’18 (finance), and Tuffy traveled to New York City to ring the closing bell of the NASDAQ exchange on July 18.

Preparing the Next Generation of Financial Planning Professionals

The funding will be used to redevelop the program’s capstone course, FIN 410 – Theory and Practice of Personal Financial Planning, with a living case study involving an actual affluent Southern California family, reflective of the region’s diversity, who will benefit from the comprehensive financial plans that students will produce.

“This will ensure that students can hone their client communication skills and create financial plans that are truly comprehensive in nature,” says Nanigian. “Furthermore, they will be prepared to serve a growing demographic that has increasing needs for financial planning services.”

The NASDAQ electronic billboard headlines TD Ameritrade, which provided personal financial planning scholarships and grants to students and institutions from around the U.S., including Mihaylo College’s program.

The grant will also be used to fund the appointment of student assistants with the objective of increasing visibility in marketing activities to inform lower-division undergraduate students about the personal satisfaction that comes from a career in financial planning, with the objective of increasing visibility and enrollment in the program.

“My colleagues and I have established two main objectives for our financial planning program: to grow student enrollments and to further improve our students’ performance on the CFP examination,” says Nanigian. “The personal financial impact of attaining CFP certification is quite remarkable. CFP professionals earn an average of $35,715 more per year than financial advisors without the CFP certification.”

TD Ameritrade’s $50,000 grant will support a capstone project that benefits an actual Southern California family, while assisting students in building their skills. “This will ensure that students can hone their client communication skills and create financial plans that are truly comprehensive in nature,” says Nanigian.

For More Information

As millennials and Generation X receive an estimated $28 trillion through personal wealth creation and financial transfers from their baby boom predecessors through 2020, the personal financial planning field is expected to grow rapidly in coming years, with employment increasing at least 30% by 2024. With nearly 9,000 financial planners, California leads the nation in Certified Financial Planning (CFP) board-certified financial planning professionals.

Mihaylo’s Personal Financial Planning program provides day and evening courses, accommodating the schedules of working professionals. Students completing the program, which involves accounting, investment, real estate, insurance, retirement planning and estate planning coursework are eligible to take the CFP examination without further preparation or coursework. For more information, contact Saba Afridi at [email protected].