University Launches Course Designed For New Standards

0

A Sydney-based university has developed a graduate diploma in financial planning which it claims will meet new education requirements.

The graduate diploma was developed by Western Sydney University (WSU), which stated the course was fully accredited by the Financial Planning Education Council and would meet the new Federal Government requirements set up by the regulating body, FASEA.

WSU School of Business Associate Professor, Sharon Taylor said the university had designed the course to help students “…get the qualifications they need, without having to pause their careers” and advisers may be able to reduce their level of study by completing assessments based on existing knowledge and by receiving credit for previous study.

“This course ensures graduates meet legislative requirements…”

As part of this approach, people taking the course will be able to complete up to four ‘challenge assessments’, based on their industry and existing knowledge, without having to complete a full unit of coursework.  WSU would also consider granting academic credit from previous study but will assess how this applies on a case-by-case basis.

“While we welcome the Federal Government changes and think they will be good for the industry, we also appreciate how difficult it is – especially for people currently working in the field – to drop everything and return to study. And we’ve considered this in developing our curriculum and structure of our Graduate Diploma course,” Taylor said.

“This course ensures graduates meet legislative requirements. It also aids in continuing professional development. We believe it’s time to start now, and if students take advantage of our ‘challenge exam’ format, they could gradate with the Graduate Diploma within one year,” she added.