Become a NACCC Certified Financial Counselor™ Today!
Financial Counselor Certification Program
Our Most Advanced Program: The Financial Counselor
The NACCC Certified Financial Counselor™ is our most advanced designation. It includes course materials from our Credit Counselor, Financial Health Counselor, and Student Loan Counselor programs. It meets the competencies for Cities for Financial Empowerment. Successful candidates earn a two-year renewable certificate.
The NACCC Certified Financial Counselor™ designation provides counselors/coaches with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to help clients improve their financial health and life-cycle planning. This is accomplished by creating and understanding budget and debt management planning, credit reports and scoring, steps to making large purchases and financing an education. Counselors and coaches will work with clients to develop an action plan and maintain accountability.
This program covers the entire financial picture, including:
• Counseling and coaching strategies
• The psychology of money
• Credit and banking
• Debt management
• Student loans preparing to attend and managing student loans
• Housing preparing to purchase a home and foreclosure prevention
• Life Cycle planning and management of resources
• Retirement
• Ethics, resources and more
Financial Counselor Job Growth
Personal Financial Advisors are recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET database as having a Bright Outlook, meaning the field is projected to experience strong growth and increasing job opportunities.
The NACCC Certified Financial Counselor™ designation provides a solid foundation in financial wellness, credit, debt management planning, financial decision-making, and life-cycle planning. Many certified counselors continue their professional development and eventually move into roles as Personal Financial Advisors or other related advising positions.
Earning your certification can be a meaningful first step toward advancing into this high-growth area of the financial field.
Recognized by FINRA
Our NACCC Certified Financial Counselor™ (CFC) designation is officially recognized and listed in the FINRA Professional Designations Directory.
You can view our listing here: FINRA LISTING
Enroll in the online course
$1500 ($1750 with bound manual)
Purchase of a bound manual is not required to complete this course. If you order a bound manual, please allow up to 10 business days for delivery.
Enrollment includes access to our online learning management system. The online course is open enrollment and self-paced with an on-call instructor! It includes exercises, review slides, audio lectures, and a practice exam. The instructor and NACCC support staff are available to assist students throughout the course.
Curriculum
Keys to Success: Solutions Through Knowledge
Essential Financial Topics and Coaching Techniques
Credit Counseling: Essential Topics, Skills, and Roles
Student Loans
Financial and Career Coaching Success
Refunds are not provided after enrollment.
Skills Earned from completing this course:
- Active Listening
- Active Learning
- Adaptability
- College Planning
- Communication
- Counseling Techniques
- Critical Thinking
- Debt Management Planning
- Ethics and Standards of Conduct
- Facilitate Creation of Action Plan
- Goal Setting and Decision Making
- Interpersonal
- Knowledge of Debt Repayment
- Management of Financial Resources
- Money Management and Budgeting
- Problem Solving Process
- Resourceful Research Skills
- Risk Assessment
- Using Credit Wisely
- Working with People with Disabilities
Request the Exam
Upon completion of the course, fill out the Request Exam Form. Testing materials are sent to the testing site indicated on the form. Proctoring services are required. These are easily arranged through local community colleges, universities, or libraries. Proctoring fees are determined by the proctoring site and may vary from location to location. NACCC also provides webcam proctoring for a one time charge of $50. The individual or firm taking the test is fully responsible for proctor payment.
The 3-hour certification exam consists of 150 multiple-choice questions that relate directly to the content presented in the study manual. Candidates must receive minimum score of 70% to pass.
(Please allow 10 business days for proctor to receive testing materials.)
Extension Policy
If you are enrolled in any course of study, you have a year from your enrollment date to complete the course and final exam. If you cannot complete the course within the allotted time, we do offer extensions up to six months. The following table lists the required payments for each month of extension.
An interactive review seminar for groups of ten or more
Why attend the seminar? The rule of thumb in education is that we learn:
20% of what we see
40 % of what we see and hear
70% of what we see, hear and do
Triple your success rate in passing the exam the first time. Tuition Rates are based on the number of participants. They optimize the performance of your counselors and your entire organization.