- Why is CFA Institute making the decision at all?
- Why is CFA Institute making the decision now?
- Is this just a way for CFA Institute to make more money?
- Why not just give away the curriculum to candidates for free?
- What happens to candidates who fail Level I in June and re-take it in December of the same year? Will they get charged for the curriculum both times?
- What happens to candidates who re-take the same exam? Will they get charged for the curriculum both times?
- How should candidates use the curriculum in conjunction with preparatory courses?
- Won't this result in lower-income candidates being "priced out of the CFA Program"?
- What should I do if I have questions?
- I live outside the United States. Will I have to pay any additional import fees when the CFA Program curriculum is shipped to me?
- How much does this cost?
Why is CFA Institute making
the decision at all?
In 2004, the CFA Preparation Task Force convened to address
declining candidate performance. In May 2005, the Task Force unanimously
recommended that the CFA Program curriculum be bundled with the exam
registration fees.
Providing the curriculum to all registered candidates serves our educational mission and ensures that all candidates will have equal access to this foundational material. There is no substitute for studying the curriculum.
Why is CFA Institute
making the decision now?
In response to candidate feedback, we have substantially
enhanced the format of the CFA Program curriculum in recent years. The
most significant change is that the assigned readings — originally only
available as sections of larger source books — have been assembled into
multiple self-contained volumes. This new flexibility enables individual
readings to be revised and updated as needed. This ability to keep the
curriculum more relevant, the economies of scale inherent in a more
efficient set of books, and the continued belief that studying the
prescribed readings is foundational to the educational mission of the CFA
Program all made this the right time to deliver the curriculum to all
candidates.
Is this just a way for CFA
Institute to make more money?
We are very sensitive to this perception and took great care to
price this as fairly as possible. We view this as a mission-driven
initiative to provide a service to CFA Program candidates and to the
profession as a whole. To that end, we have priced the curriculum below
cost to better serve our mission of educating CFA candidates. This
reduced curriculum pricing within the overall bundle reflects the
benefits of spreading our costs over a much larger candidate base as well
as an organizational decision to absorb a portion of those costs
internally.
Why not just give away the
curriculum to candidates for free?
The CFA Program curriculum includes copyrighted material, and
the pricing structure takes into account the costs of purchasing the
rights to repackage that third-party material into the
curriculum. There are also significant production and distribution
costs.
What happens to candidates
who fail Level I in June and re-take it in December of the same year?
Will they get charged for the curriculum both times?
Candidates who fail the June Level I exam and register to
re-take the exam in December of that same year will not be charged twice
for the curriculum. Their registration fees for the December exam will be
reduced to reflect the fact that they already own the curriculum for that
year.
What happens to
candidates who re-take the same exam? Will they get charged for the
curriculum both times?
The registration fees for candidates who re-take will be
reduced. However, given the year-to-year changes, customization, and
improvement in the curriculum, each candidate will receive a new set of
curriculum.
How should candidates
use the curriculum in conjunction with preparatory courses?
There is no substitute for careful study of the prescribed
CFA Program curriculum. However, some candidates may find it useful to
supplement their study with prep courses and/or review notes. Find out
more about the CFA Institute
Prep Provider Guidelines Program and those providers that participate
in it.
Won't this result
in lower-income candidates being "priced out of the CFA
Program"?
For those candidates that previously purchased the
curriculum, this new pricing structure will result in a significant
decrease in out-of-pocket expense.
We approach pricing changes in a very careful and deliberate manner. While we cannot be sure of the ultimate effect of this pricing change, we will continue exploring creative ways to provide assistance to lower-income candidates.
We view this as a mission-driven initiative to provide a service to CFA candidates and to the profession as a whole. To that end, we have priced the curriculum below cost to better serve our mission of educating CFA candidates.
What should I do if I have questions?
Contact us for further details.
I live outside the United States. Will I have to pay any additional import fees when the CFA Program curriculum is shipped to me?
International shipments may be subject to import duties and taxes, which are levied once a shipment reaches your country. You must pay any additional charges for customs clearance; we have no control over these charges and cannot predict what they may be. Customs policies vary widely from country to country. Contact your local customs office for further information.
The registration fee includes exam registration, the curriculum, and one online sample exam. Candidates who re-register for the same exam in a future calendar year will receive a $50 discount on the exam registration fee. June Level I candidates who re-register in the same calendar year (Level I exams are held in June and December) will not be charged again for the curriculum.
We view this as a mission-driven initiative to provide a service to CFA Program candidates and to the profession as a whole. To that end, we have priced the curriculum below cost to better serve our mission of educating CFA candidates. This reduced curriculum pricing within the overall bundle reflects the benefits of spreading our costs over a much larger candidate base as well as an organizational decision to absorb a portion of those costs internally.