Financial and Housing Counseling Certificate

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Program Information

Program Description

The Financial & Housing Counseling Certificate program, offered through the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (GPIDEA), is a joint project with the USDA and Department of Defense. The certificate is designed to increase access to high quality online academic programs for professionals who work with military families and for military family members preparing for such work.

The program prepares students to apply for the Certified Housing Counselor (CHC) and the Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC) certifications, which are appropriate to meet the needs of military spouses, active duty service members, civilians providing services, and retired military or civilians in the areas of financial and housing counseling.

In collaboration with the Association for Financial Planning and Counseling Education (AFCPE), students successfully completing the Financial & Housing Counseling (FHC) Certificate program will be able to sit for the Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC) examination or the Certified Housing Counselor (CHC) examination.*

Requirements for Financial and Housing Counseling Certificate: 18

CA 612 - Financial Counseling
Credits: 3
CA 620 - Family Economics
Credits: 3
CA 640 - Fundamentals of Family Financial Planning
Credits: 3
CA 715 - Housing and Real Estate in FFP
Credits: 3

Electives: 6

Select two of the following courses.

CA 595 - Practicum
Credits: 3
CA 604 - Family Systems
Credits: 3
CA 645 - Military Personal Finances
Credits: 3
CA 660 - Investing for Family’s Future
Credits: 3
CA 680 - Insurance Planning for Families
Credits: 3
CA 704 - Estate Planning for Families
Credits: 3
CA 725 - Family, Employment Benefits and Retirement Planning
Credits: 3
CA 735 - Personal Income Taxation
Credits: 3

*Notes

To become an Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC), candidates must have 1000 hours of experience in admissible financial counseling experience to enroll. To become a Certified Housing Counselor (CHC), candidates must have 1500 hours of admissible housing counseling experience. For additional information on AFC and CHC certification, visit the AFCPE website.

Additional Admission Requirements

Please refer to the following for additional information

Graduate School Admissions

Distance Education

Additional Information

Students enrolled in SDSU certificate programs are not eligible for federal student financial aid. The non-federal alternative loan programs may be used for students meeting the lender criteria as found at www.sdstate.edu (search alternative loans). For further information, please contact the SDSU financial aid office at 605-688-4695 or finaid@sdstate.edu.