CFP Board Launches 'Wealth Is Women's Work' Scholarship Program

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards announced this week the launch of a new scholarship program meant to significantly defray the cost of taking the CFP exam for women under 40.

Dubbed the Peggy Ruhlin Wealth Is Women’s Work CFP Exam Scholarship, the program is named for the retired co-founder of the $3.5 billion wealth management firm Budros, Ruhlin & Roe. As detailed in the CFP Board’s announcement, the scholarships will award $625 toward the early registration rate of $825 for the July 2024 CFP exam.

To qualify, applicants must be U.S. residents under the age of 40 who identify as women and are not registered for the July 2024 CFP exam prior to being notified of the award.

The scholarship application window will remain open until March 19, 2024, with awardees notified of the decision by March 26, 2024. The scholarship will then be made available every exam cycle, according to the CFP Board announcement, awarding 50 scholarships per year through 2027.

In the announcement, Ruhlin points to her own early career struggles with balancing her accounting work with parenting duties as a big motivator behind the scholarship program. She says this struggle drove her to pursue financial planning as a career and earn the CFP designation — and that the move provided her with greater career satisfaction and a better work-life balance.