CFA Program Student Scholarship May 2023

CFA Program Access Scholarship

The CFA Program scholarships help CFA Institute achieve its mission of leading the investment profession globally by setting the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence, which includes providing educational opportunities. Access Scholarships are needs-based scholarships available to those who cannot afford the full cost of the CFA Program enrolment and registration fees. The CFA Program enrolment and exam registration fees are reduced to $250 thanks to Access Scholarship awards, which include the CFA Program eBook. The scholarship does not cover the cost of printed materials or shipping. If you are awarded a scholarship, you may use it for either exam in the relevant calendar year. If you do not register and take the exam during the relevant exam year, you may be ineligible for future Access Scholarships.

How To Apply for CFA Program Access Scholarship

If you want to apply, download and fill out the Society Scholarship Application

CFA-Scholarship-Application-2023-Exams Download

And return it by November 1, 2023. (Recipients will be notified by the middle of November.)
Mail the application to CFA Society Madison, 1702 Ashlawn Lane, Waunakee, WI 53597, or scan and email to [email protected].

If you have any questions, please contact Xuezheng Wu, CFA at [email protected].

The various CFA exam scholarships, summarized

All CFA scholarships have different deadlines and application windows, so make sure you understand them and apply early if you want to be considered for one.

Most scholarships can be applied for online, but some (such as the Regulator Scholarship) require you to contact CFA Institute directly.

ALSO READ: British Council IELTS Award 2023 For Students In Germany - Apply Now

The primary requirements and distinctions of all CFA Program scholarships are outlined below.

Tips on CFA Scholarship Application

Understand the form: You can save your current progress in the application and return to earlier sections of the form later. However, you cannot proceed to the next section of the online application without first completing the previous sections completely. This may be a minor annoyance to some.
Save your personal statement on your own platform as follows: We recommend typing up your 3,500 character maximum personal statement on a word processor for grammar and spelling check, but more importantly to have a backup that you can easily copy over into your application later for applications that require a personal statement (e.g., Access and Women scholarships).
What characteristics distinguish a good personal statement? Your one-of-a-kind story.
While this only applies to Access and Women scholarship applicants, our research indicates that the more personal your response, the better.
CFA Institute wants to know about you, why you want to earn the CFA charter, and how it will help you achieve your goals. Tell them your story (briefly)!
Here are some general guidelines to get you started:
how you learned about the exam and scholarship; your career goals; how the scholarship will help your financial situation (i.e. why you need the scholarship); the value of the CFA charter (i.e. why you need the CFA charter);
For Level 2 and Level 3 candidates, you could include what you’ve learned so far from the CFA exams and how it has been applied.
After submission, no changes are permitted: Before submitting your application, double-check that all of the details are correct.
Before registering for the exam, apply for the scholarship(s). If you have already registered for the exam, you are not eligible for the scholarship because it indicates that you have the ability to pay. However, if you are not selected for a CFA scholarship, you can receive a one-year early exam registration fee discount on your next exam registration (this is confirmed with CFA Institute in 2023).
Before registering for the exam, wait for the scholarship decision: After applying for a scholarship, you must wait for an official decision before registering for the exam.
Your scholarship application will be declined/voided if you’ve gone ahead and registered for an exam without a result on your scholarship application.
Prepare your international passport. When registering for and taking the CFA exams, you must present your international travel passport, as no other form of identification is acceptable. Because of the time it takes to obtain or renew a passport, this is something you should keep in mind if you don’t already have one.
You may apply multiple times: Fortunately, you can receive a CFA scholarship more than once, so if you qualify, applying again after your first exam is worthwhile. Even if you’ve failed an exam, you can still apply for a scholarship to retake it.
You can apply for multiple scholarships at the same time: If a candidate receives multiple scholarships (of any kind), the most recent scholarship will be applied.
No doubling up: You will not be eligible for a scholarship if you begin working for an employer that reimburses for exam registrations, but you would not need the scholarship in that case anyway.
You still require funding. Remember that even with the scholarship, you must pay an additional $150 for physical copies of the curriculum if desired.The eBooks are especially helpful when travelling abroad, although I personally prefer paper copies of textbooks whenever possible.
Advice for Access Scholarship applicants specifically:
References: CFA Institute appears to have removed the requirement for references in your Access scholarship applications in the most recent 2023 updates. Yay!
Net assets and gross household income: For starters, there are no income or asset requirements for scholarship applicants. Although this section appears to be extensive, simply go through each category of income and nett asset systematically, then add them all up to form your best estimates in US dollars. Put what you believe is most accurate and in accordance with the CFA Program Code of Ethics. You are not required to send supporting documents unless specifically requested, and you should not upload any documents containing personally identifiable financial information.
It is a costly decision to waste the scholarship: It also goes without saying that if you are awarded a scholarship, you should cherish the opportunity by studying diligently, giving it your all, and sitting for the exam. Worse, if you do not appear for the exam as a scholarship recipient, you may be disqualified from future scholarship applications (s).

ALSO READ: High School Students Icebreakers

CFA Scholarship fees

The total cost of all 3 CFA exams ranges from $2,600-$8,000, assuming 3 consecutive passes with no travel & accommodation costs.

These are the CFA exam fees breakdown by level:

CFA Level 1: $1,200–$3,000
CFA Level 2: $700–$2,500
CFA Level 3: $700–$2,500

The two significant factors that affect the cost range are:

the date of exam registration, and
the choice of study material.

Let’s go through each of the 5 key cost components so you can further improve your cost estimates.

1) CFA enrollment and registration fees for Level 1, 2 & 3

CFA fees consists of:

a one-off enrollment fee of US$450 (paid once the first time you register for Level 1), plus
a registration fee (for each Level or retake) of $700-$1,000, depending on when you register for your exams.

Fee type (for all Levels)	CFA exam cost (US$)
One-time Enrollment Fee (paid once only during first Level 1 registration)	$450
Registration Fee (for each Level or retake):
Early Registration	$700
Standard Registration	$1,000

2) CFA calculator’s price (TI BA II Plus or HP12C)

Most candidates fail to budget for this, despite the fact that it is a relatively small amount of $50 on average.

If you prefer to bring a spare calculator as a backup during exams, remember to double the cost listed below.

Here are the prices of each of the 4 CFA approved calculators:

Texas Instruments BA II Plus: $31
Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional: $46
HP12C: $50
HP12C Platinum: $50

3) CFA study materials’ cost

There are two aspects to this, depending on whether you use the CFA curriculum or third-party study materials as your primary source of learning:

Physical CFA curriculum books (an additional $299+ per Level): By default, the CFA registration fee includes the e-book version of the curriculum. If you want hard copies of the CFA curriculum books, you’ll have to pay an additional $299 (plus shipping) per Level. If you live outside of the United States, you will almost certainly be charged import duties and/or customs fees upon delivery.

Study materials from a third party ($199-$1,999 per Level): While it is perfectly possible to study solely from the CFA curriculum, some candidates may prefer to spend a little more to use more concise third-party study materials in order to save time. This price is determined by the type of package and prep provider you select for each CFA exam level. Given the wide range, I’ll go over typical, necessary spending in a later section.
Here is a quick rundown of the main types of study material packages provided by each CFA prep provider, as well as the associated cost per Level:

CFA study materials cost comparison (by prep provider and study packages)

Study Material Cost, per CFA Level (US$)	Study Notes Only	Self Study*	Premium (Online) + Review Course*	Premium (Classroom) + Review Course*
Kaplan Schweser	$329	$649	$1,499	$1,799
UWorld	–	$199-299 (L1 only)	–	–
Bloomberg	–	$699	$1,999	–
Salt Solution	–	$129 per month	–	–
IFT	$175-425	$299-550	$555-825	–
Cost Range ($)	$329 per Level	$199 – $699 per Level	$1,499 – $1,999 per Level	$1,799 p