Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business has been named a CFA Program Partner of CFA Institute, the global, non-profit professional association that administers the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) curriculum and examination program.

“The CFA designation is very valuable for those seeking careers in investments,” said finance department head Vijay Singal.

The designation, based on the department’s new Investment Management and CFA track, signals to students and employers that the university’s finance curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and is well suited to students preparing to sit for the CFA exams. It indicates that the curriculum covers at least 70 percent of the required investment knowledge and skills in four areas: ethical and professional standards, investment valuation and management tools, asset valuation, and portfolio management and performance presentation.

“The new track gives Pamplin’s finance students opportunities to gain additional certifications and become even more competitive in their job search,” Singal said. It is part of an extensive renovation of the finance curriculum that finance faculty began more than two years ago and completed last fall in an effort to prepare students more effectively for the workplace.



CFA Institute also publishes research, conducts professional-development programs, and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. Headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., the organization has more than 87,000 members in 132 countries and territories.

Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. The college emphasizes the development of ethical values and leadership, technology, and international business skills. A member of its marketing faculty directs the interdisciplinary Sloan Foundation Forest Industries Center at Virginia Tech. The college’s other centers focus on business leadership, electronic commerce, and organizational performance. The college is committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students. It is named in honor of Robert B. Pamplin (BAD ’33), the former CEO of Georgia-Pacific, and his son, businessman and philanthropist Robert B. Pamplin Jr. (BAD ’64).

Share this story