National Endowment for Financial Education

The National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) launched its first financial education program in 1984 and has been creating programs to help consumers better understand their finances ever since.

The Denver-based, nonprofit College for Financial Planning was established in 1972 as the nation’s first financial planning educational institution providing financial planning course work to professionals. At that time, the College also created the standard-setting CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification, which helped define the concept of financial planning and establish it as a profession.

The College grew, diversified, and advanced its interaction with the public over the next two decades. NEFE evolved from and served as the parent entity of the College from 1992 to 1997. In 1997 the board and trustees recognized the importance of focusing the foundation’s efforts primarily on educating consumers—particularly those segments of the population whose needs were not being met by others. NEFE transferred ownership, sold its assets—including all of its professional education programs— to the Apollo Group, Inc and established NEFE as an independent, nonprofit foundation solely dedicated to educating consumers about personal finance.