All students are required to meet the general university admission requirements.

Additional Requirements

• An undergraduate and graduate GPA of 3.0 (B) or better. In some cases, a 2.75 will be permissible if the last 60 hours of study were at least a 3.0.
• GRE/GMAT scores from within the last five years

Program-Specific Application Deadline

• Summer semester (begins in early August): Dec. 1

Additional Documentation
View detailed information about the documentation required to complete your application.

The personal financial planning doctorate will prepare you for a career as a:

• finanical planning professional
• researcher in financial planning
• college or university faculty

If you have not taken a graduate-level statistics course in the recent past, you may be required to take STAT 703 or another introductory research and statistics course prior to your first session on campus.

A maximum of 30 credit hours may be transferred into the doctoral program from qualifying master’s degree or graduate coursework. If you are interested in teaching in an AASCB-accredited business program, we recommend taking 15 or more credits in finance.

Research Courses (minimum 46 credit hours)
Grades of B or better are required for PFP 805, 806, 888, 889, 890 and 906.

• STAT 705 - Regression and Analysis of Variance (3 credits)
• PFP 805 - Statistical Software Application in Personal Financial Planning (3 credits)*
• PFP 806 - Statistical Methods in Personal Financial Planning I (3 credits)*
• PFP 808 - Research Application in Personal Financial Planning (3 credits; must repeat for 6 credits) *
• PFP 888 - Research Methods in Personal Financial Planning I (3 credits) *
• PFP 889 - Theories and Models in Personal Financial Planning (3 credits)*
• PFP 890 - Research Methods in Personal Financial Planning II (3 credits) *
• PFP 906 - Statistical Methods in PFP II (3 credits)*
• PFP 990 - Dissertation Proposal Seminar (1 credit)*
• PFP 999 - Dissertation Research (18 credits)

Professional Courses (minimum 14 credit hours)

• PFP 771 - Financial Therapy Theory and Research (3 credits)
• PFP 825 - Survey of Personal Financial Planning Research and Theory (3 credits)*
• PFP 894 - Professional Issues in Personal Financial Planning (1 credit; must repeat for 3 credits)*
• PFP 900 - Research Seminar (1 credit; must repeat for 2 credits)*
• PFP 956 - Clinical Research and Applications in Financial Counseling and Planning (3 credits)*

Supporting (Core Content) Courses (minimum 18 credit hours)
A maximum of 18 transfer hours may be applied for supporting (core content) courses.

• PFP 760 - Retirement Planning (3 credits)
• PFP 762 - Investing for the Family’s Future (3 credits)
• PFP 764 - Estate Planning for Families (3 credits)
• PFP 766 - Insurance Planning for Families (3 credits)
• PFP 772 - Personal Income Taxation (3 credits)
• PFP 836 - Financial Planning Case Studies (3 credits)

Electives (minimum 12 credit hours)
A maximum of 12 transfer hours may be applied for elective courses.

• PFP 768 - Introduction to Financial Therapy (3 credits)
• PFP 769 - Money and Relationships (3 credits)
• PFP 770 - Applied Behavioral Finance (3 credits)
• PFP 835 - Professional Practices Management in Personal Financial Planning (3 credits)
• PFP 860 - Advanced Retirement Planning Issues (3 credits)
• PFP 863 - Advanced Personal Income Tax Planning (3 credits)
• PFP 864 - Advanced Estate Planning Issues (3 credits)
• PFP 909 - Topics in Personal Financial Planning (3 credits)
• Other elective as agreed upon by the committee

*Indicates courses must be taken at K-State unless prior approval is received from committee.