阿拉巴马大学

Consumer Affairs Concentration

The Consumer Affairs concentration offers an applied approach to understanding consumers in home and market environments. With coursework in consumer economics, consumer policy, demographics, consumer communications, and family resource management, the Consumer Affairs concentration prepares students for careers as consumer specialists in government, business, research, and non-profit settings. This concentration builds students’ capacity to analyze markets and matters of personal finance from the perspective of consumers, and to communicate these issues to stakeholders.

Graduates enjoy careers as analysts, entrepreneurs, sales professionals, customer care and engagement specialists, financial professionals, and similar in private, public, and non-profit sectors. The skills learned in this concentration also prepare students for law school and graduate school.

Family Financial Planning and Counseling Concentration

The Family Financial Planning and Counseling concentration offers students the knowledge and skills necessary for a career in financial planning and related careers. Financial planners guide clients in many aspects of their financial lives: financial goals, cash flow, taxes, retirement, college, business planning, estate planning, and insurance needs, among others. Financial counselors also counsel clients, but with a focus on developing sound personal finance principles such as reducing debt, building an emergency fund, negotiating payments, developing a budget, and similar.

The Family Financial Planning and Counseling Concentration coursework fulfills the educational requirements to sit for the CFP certification exam that leads to the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification registered with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the marks CFP, Certified Financial Planner and CFP (with flame logo), which it awards to individuals who successfully complete initial and ongoing certification requirements. The University of Alabama does not certify individuals to use the CFP, Certified Financial Planner and CFP (with flame logo) certification marks. Only the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., grants CFP certification to those persons who, in addition to completing an educational requirement such as this CFP Board Registered Program, have met ethics, experience, and examination requirements.

Career Opportunities:

Consumer Affairs Concentration

• Customer care and engagement specialist
• Consumer insights analyst
• Customer service manager
• State/local consumer advocate
• Congressional/senate staff
• Advertising copy writer/editor
• Public relations/consumer engagement
• Advertising account executive
• Educational consultant
• Product development specialist
• Entrepreneur
• Consumer counseling
• Human relations supervisor
• Volunteer services manager
• Adult education programs director
• Manufacturer’s sales representative
• Law student
• Graduate student

Financial Planning and Counseling Concentration

• Financial planner
• Financial counselor
• Banks/credit union
• Accounting office staff
• Employee benefits representative
• Insurance consultant/sales
• Retirement planner
• Social Security Administration representative
• Cooperative Extension Agent
• Credit counselor
• Estate planning professional
• Law student
• Graduate student