A team of three PennWest University finance and personal financial planning students recently advanced to the final phases of the Financial Planning Challenge, hosted by the Financial Planning Association (FPA), Ameriprise and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

Sarah Keating (Edinboro), Olivia Lewandowski (Edinboro) and Jacob Campbell (California) represented PennWest during this year’s challenge. Texas Tech University was announced as the overall winner of the competition.

In the first phase of the competition, all student teams were given profiles for two hypothetical clients and instructed to prepare a comprehensive financial plan. After the first phase was judged and awarded, the top eight schools advanced to the next phases of the competition.

In addition to PennWest University, the following schools advanced to Phase 2 and 3: Texas Tech University, the University of Arizona, the University of Akron, the University of North Florida, the University of Denver, Ohio State University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

In Phase 2, all teams orally presented their financial plan to a panel of judges, and in Phase 3, the teams competed in a quiz bowl titled, “How Do You Know?”

This is the third time in the past five years that a team from PennWest has advanced to the final phases of the Financial Planning Challenge. PennWest University’s finance and personal financial planning program and minor in personal financial planning are both registered with the CFP Board.  Students who complete either program are eligible to take the CFP Exam.

“PennWest’s advancement to the final phases of the Financial Planning Challenge for the third time in the past five years affirms that its programs are among the top in the nation,” said Dr. Michael Engdahl, PennWest professor and team advisor. “We have many intelligent and hardworking students at PennWest, and our faculty do an outstanding job educating and preparing our students.”

Anyone interested in learning more about PennWest University’s CFP Board Registered programs should email Engdahl at mengdahl@pennwest.edu.

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Pictured: Dr. Michael Engdahl, Sarah Keating and Jacob Campbell