"The CFA exam pass rate should be 25% from now on"
I am a CFA® Charterholder, and I am in approval of the recent 25% pass rate for the CFA Level I exam. I would like to urge CFA Institute to keep pass rates close to 25% going forwards to ensure the prestige of the certification.
I appreciate that it's difficult when students who invest considerable time and money fail the exams simply to maintain a low passing percentage. However, there's little doubt that the CFA exams have been becoming easier and that more students have been enrolling every year. While this has generated high revenues for CFA Institute, it has been at the cost of the decreasing prestige of the CFA Charter.
Personally, I achieved the CFA Charter around a decade ago. At the time, it was a gold standard qualification. Today it has become anything but. At my own company, we hire recent graduates who have already cleared Level two and who will be Level 3 cleared within a year. Two years later, they're full Charterholders.
I accept that the recent 25% pass rate is low, but given the exams are held multiple times a year, and you can enroll again six months later, it's not the end of the world. When you finally achieve the CFA Charter, it will be worth it.
Frank Preissner is a pseudonym
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