You have to enroll in the CFA Program and pass three exams before you can earn the CFA charter. This post will take you through the various CFA exam cost and that of earning the CFA license.
First, you must pay a one-time enrollment fee that will admit you to the CFA Program. Then, for each level of the exam, an additional registration fee is to be paid. This might be one-time for each Level if you pass the exams the first time around or more if you have to take any Level more than once.
When compared to earning an MBA from one of the leading universities in the USA, the CFA exam cost is a steal. But since the exams are offered in certain select states in the country only, you have to add travel costs if you do not live in one of them.
The quantum of CFA course exam fees starts building up if you are not successful once and need to take the same exams again. About 20% of candidates who start the CFA Program end up earning the charter and of them, a handful only pass all three levels on the first try. Hence, keep this in mind and save funds accordingly.
In this post, you will know about the several costs involved in getting your CFA license, from Enrollment fees to Annual Membership dues if you pass all three Levels of the exam.
Contents
How Much CFA Costs
In this section, let us discuss in detail what makes up the CFA costs with the focus entirely on Enrollment fees and Exam registration fees. For now, in this section, the costs related to Exam prep course fees, Rescheduling fees, and Annual membership will not be considered as these will be taken up individually in subsequent sections.
Enrollment fees and Exam Registration fees
CFA Level 1 exam costs
The CFA exam 1 cost has two components.
- A one-time enrollment fee of $350. This is paid the first time that you register for the CFA charter
- A Registration fee for sitting for the exam the first time or for a retake. This varies between $900 to $1200 depending on when you file your registration. For example, for the February 2024 exam, early birds who register between 16th May 2023 to 13th July 2023 pay $900. After the window closes, it is $1200 for the others.
CFA Level 2 exam costs
- The one-time enrollment fee is not applicable.
- Like Level 1, there is early bird registration and the standard registration of $900 and $1200 respectively. The early bird window for the August 2023 exam is closed and for the November 2023 exam ends on 10th May 2023. For the February 2024 exam, the period is the same as in Level 1.
CFA Level 3 exam costs
- The one-time enrollment fee is not applicable.
- Like Levels 1 and 2, there is early bird registration and the standard registration of $900 and $1200 respectively. The early bird window for the August 2023 exam is closed and for the November 2023 exam ends on 10th May 2023. For the February 2024 exam, the period is the same as in Levels 1 and 2.
There is another cost of the CFA Level 1 course fee that most candidates forget to budget for, probably because it is a very small amount. It is the charge for bringing a calculator into the exam center. The cost of each of the 4 CFA approved calculators is as follows:
- Texas Instruments BA II Plus: $35
- Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional: $50
- HP12C: $75
- HP12C Platinum: $50
If you want to take a spare calculator with you, double the cost as per the model.
Annual Membership Fees
The CFA Institute offers two types of memberships. One is a regular membership for those with the requisite work experience in the investment decision-making process. It is essential to earning the CFA Charter and CIPM certificate. The other is Affiliate Membership for investment professionals who do not meet eligibility requirements. Here, only the Regular Membership will be discussed as it involves CFA Charter holders.
- Eligibility: A bachelor’s degree or equivalent education/work experience and a passing score for the Level I CFA Exam and the CIPM Program Level II Exam.
- Member Benefits: Voting rights for CFA Institute Board of Governor elections and access to the latest research, continued professional learning content, member directory, and exclusive volunteer opportunities.
- Work Experience: At least 4,000 hours of relevant experience, completed in a minimum of 36 months
The Annual Membership fee is $299 and the period spans from 1st July to 30th June. For first-time members, this amount will vary as the fee is prorated and depends on the joining date of the member.
Exam Prep Course Fees
The CFA exam is considered to be one of the toughest in the finance and investment field and cracking it is no mean matter.
It always helps to take assistance from professionals who have vast knowledge and experience in this line.
The best way to do so is to invest in a CFA prep course rather than self-study as you can always choose study material that matches your learning style. You’ll have provided with books/e-books, practice questions, mock exams, in-person or online instruction, pre-test review, all at your fingertips.
To estimate better the CFA exam cost, let us check out a few of these courses, their fee structure, and their course content in brief. However, this is simply a random selection and in no way reflects the quality or cost-affordability of the others. There are too many of them to be included in this post.
Kaplan/Schweser
- The basic package sells for about $699 and has planning tools, practice exams, questions, and notes.
- The higher-end package retails for $999 and includes OnDemand instruction and access to an OnDemand Review Workshop.
Wiley Efficient Learning
- The basic course costs about $645. It has questions and two mock exams.
- The one that sells for $995 provides instructions in a video or live-on-line format. Students can interact with the instructor over email, and get flashcards and other goodies.
- The top-end Wiley package can be had for $1395 and includes a review course, an online class, mock exams, and a book. Instructors clarify any doubts online within 24 to 48 hours.
The Princeton Review
Each of the Princeton courses is available for $799 but currently, the company is offering a lot of discounts.
- Levels 1 and 3 can be had for $599 each
- Level 2 is retailing at $488. Princeton offers a pass or money-back guarantee on all its courses and students can get a free 7-day trial before investing in the full course.
The expense of buying a prep course to give you a leg up in cracking the various Levels must be included in the total CFA exam cost.
Rescheduling Exam Appointment and Deferral Policy Fees
The need to reschedule an exam or take the benefit of a clause in the deferral policy is rare and only in exceptional circumstances do candidates have to fall back on these provisions. But if they do, it will be a part of the CFA exam cost and hence will be covered here in some detail.
Rescheduling exam appointment
You have the option to reschedule your exam appointment if you are unable to sit for the scheduled appointment. However, it should be within the currently registered exam window.
The fee for making changes to your exam appointment is $250 which permits scheduling your exam to a different time, date, or location within the currently registered exam window. It does not allow you to defer your exam registration to an exam window in the future.
Deferral policy
There are two types of deferrals you can make:
- Paid deferrals: Candidates can purchase a $399 deferral that permits them to postpone their exam appointment by up to 12 months depending on the Level they are appearing in. Scheduled candidates are allowed to purchase a deferral up to 24 hours before their exam appointment and candidates who do not have an exam appointment can purchase a deferral till 3 days following the close of the exam window. For each paid registration only one paid deferral is allowed.
- Emergency deferrals: These are taken up on a case-by-case basis and include life-threatening illness of the candidate or immediate family member, mandatory military deployment of a candidate, and pregnancy of the candidate.
In the past when Covid restrictions were in place, the CFA Institute allowed deferrals at no extra cost if your exam appointment was canceled due to Government restrictions on movement.
How Much Does it Cost to Retake Kaplan CFA Prep
You might have studied hard with unwavering dedication but what happens when you need a second chance to sit for the exam?
If you studied with the Kaplan study materials, they offer a Pass Protection guarantee that covers the entire cost of the exam preparation package regardless of the study package that you have bought ($699 or $999).
To earn this benefit, you must:
- Have answered at least 50% of the total online questions in the study pack bought. It might be Question Bank, Module Quizzes, Mock exams, Checkpoint Exams, or any other. Written answers will not be considered and only those entered on the online platform will be accounted for.
- Provide written authentic documents of your CFA exam results (Pass/Fail notification), as well as confirmation of registration to re-take the same level of exam.
Once these two criteria are met, candidates will receive the same study package free of charge to prepare for the next exam sitting.
In case you fail to fulfill these requirements, you can still receive the package for your exam by paying only 50% of the cost of the package you paid previously.
Summing Up
We have gone through the various aspects of the CFA course to arrive at the answer to CFA exam costs. There is a one-time enrollment fee of $350 followed by the standard $1200 registration fee for each level of the exam. By availing of the early bird discounts, the registration fee drops to $900, saving you $900 from the CFA course exam fees.
The total cost of taking each level of the CFA exam starts at $3,050 with early registration and goes up to $3,950 with standard registration, the cost of prep courses, and more. Eligible exam-takers can avail of one of the several scholarships offered by the CFA Institute to help with the CFA exam costs.
This total estimate is not inclusive of the $250 fee for rescheduling within the exam window.
