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Admission Criteria

Admission to the Master’s in Financial Planning and Wealth Management program is competitive and is based on the applicant’s overall record. Meeting the minimum standards does not guarantee admission. Although all of the minimum standards must be normally met, the applicant’s overall record is considered when making admission decisions.

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Please use Major Code:  6103, Major: Financial Planning and Wealth Management.

Academic Credentials

The minimum standards for admission to the program are:

  • A bachelor’s degree from a recognized educational institution.
  • A cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.0 from all institutions attended.
  • Completion of the following prerequisite courses (or their equivalents at MSU or at another institution):
    • An introduction to accounting (ACC 230 at MSU)
    • Probability and statistics (STT 200)

Application Requirements

Applicants must submit the following items:

  • A completed application.
  • A one-time, nonrefundable application fee and transcript fee.
  • Official bachelor’s degree-bearing transcript. Transcripts from Michigan State are not required.
  • Current resume detailing professional academic credentials, work experience, extracurricular activities, honors and awards.
  • Three letters of recommendations.  One letter must be from a faculty member in your major.  Applicants will be required to provide complete contact information for those you have selected to recommend you.
  • Two personal statements of career goals and relevant information:
    • Professional/Academic Background – Please tell us about your background, both professional and academic, and how these experiences have prepared you for a graduate program in financial planning. (Maximum 750 words or 2 pages.)
    • Professional Goals – Why do you wish to be a financial planner and how does this program fit into this plan? (Maximum 750 words or 2 pages.)

Application Deadline

Applications for admission may be submitted at any time as decisions are made on a rolling basis; however, deadlines for complete applications are as follows:

  • First round deadline: February 1. Decision will be communicated by February 21.
  • Second round deadline: March 15. Decision will be communicated by March 30.
  • Final round deadline is June 1.  Decision will be communicated by June 15.

Please user Major Code: 6103, Major: Financial Planning and Wealth Management

Transcripts

Official transcripts of all academic coursework completed in colleges and universities other than MSU must be provided to us directly from the institution(s) you attended and received before the application deadline.

If your transcripts are on file at MSU, additional official transcripts do not need to be requested.

Official transcripts that can be sent electronically can be emailed directly from your undergraduate institution to: admis@msu.edu. Hard-copy transcripts can be mailed to the address below. Please make sure to attach electronic copies of your transcripts to your MS-CXM application in addition to having hard-copy documents mailed to MSU admissions:

Michigan State University
Office of Admissions
426 Auditorium Road
East Lansing, MI 48824