CFP Board Calls First Computer-Based Exams a ‘Success’

CFPs had debated whether the CFP Board was making the exam easier by shortening its duration and number of questions. But Ray Ferrara, chairman of CFP Board's board of directors for 2014, maintained earlier this year that the shortened exams will not be easier. "The fact that you'll be able to [take the exam] in less time doesn't mean it's any less rigorous," he said. Those "involved in [developing the] testing would say it's equal to or more difficult" to the previous 10-hour exam.

Michael Kitces, director of research for Pinnacle Advisory Group, told ThinkAdvisor in an email message that with a pass rate of 66%, "it appears that in the end, the CFP Board really did 'just' make the CFP exam more convenient, but not necessarily (much) easier."

Kitces says the 66% exam rate "really is slightly higher than the historical average – over the past 10 years, the pass rate has hovered between 50% and 63%, and in the past three years it twice got as high as 64%." However, he says, "it's not clear whether a less-than-2% difference between the summer exam (which was 64.5%) and this fall computer-based exam (at 66%) is really material, and it's not hard to imagine that this sitting of the exam may have been 'distorted' by people who were waiting for the new exam format, spent longer studying while waiting for it, and had a higher pass rate simply because they ended out with more time to study."

What will be "interesting to see," Kitces added, is "whether the pass rate in 2015 dips back into the low 60% zone, or stays at 65%+." Also, he said, "the number of exam takers did increase as the CFP Board hoped."

The current number of CFPs stands at 69,000, a 25% boost since the financial crisis hit in 2007. The Board wants to add roughly 12,000 more CFPs over the next four years.

The next CFP Certification exam is scheduled for March 24 – 28.

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