CRPS® or Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist

How does the CRPS® Program work?

The College’s professional designation programs all feature open enrollment. You can enroll and begin whenever you like. While we offer periodic live classes, these are completely optional and are available to all students at no additional charge.

When you enroll you will receive immediate access to the College’s exclusive online student portal. Within this portal you will find copies of your written study materials, streaming video lectures, downloadable MP3’s, interactive quizzes, and even access to live classes when they are in session. You will also be able to contact your professor with questions or issues.

All of these things are included with your enrollment and we pride ourselves on not charging for additional 3rd party books, online functionality, access to professors, etc.

Students must successfully pass the course’s single final examination within one year of their enrollment date. Final exams can be administered at our approved testing centers: PSI, Prometric, or v. The first examination is included as part of your enrollment. Subsequent examination attempts are $100 each. Students must attempt the exam within six months of enrollment and have one year to complete the program.


Course Topics:

Module 1: Introduction to ERISA and the Fiduciary Standard

• Chapter 1: Fundamentals of ERISA
• Chapter 2: The Fiduciary Standard and ERISA
• Chapter 3: Advisers Working with Plan Participants

Module 2: Employer-Funded Defined Contribution Plans

• Chapter 1: An Overview of Defined Contribution Plans
• Chapter 2: Profit Sharing Plans
• Chapter 3: Stock-Based Plans
• Chapter 4: Cross-Tested Profit Sharing Plans
• Chapter 5: Defined Contribution Plans Compared

Module 3: Participant-Directed Retirement Plans

• Chapter 1: 401(k) Profit Sharing Plans
• Chapter 2: 403(b) Plans
• Chapter 3: 457(b) Plans

Module 4: Retirement Plan Solutions for Small Business Owners

• Chapter 1: SIMPLE Plans
• Chapter 2: The Simplified Employee Pension (SEP)
• Chapter 3: SEP vs. SIMPLE Plan Selection for Business Owners
• Chapter 4: Defined Benefit Plans for Small Business Owners

Module 5: Retirement Plan Selection, Design, and Implementation

• Chapter 1: Selecting the Appropriate Employer-Sponsored Plan
• Chapter 2: Designing ERISA-Compliant Plans
• Chapter 3: Approaches to Implementing Qualified Plans
• Chapter 4: Plan Amendments

Module 6: Administering ERISA-Compliant Plans

• Chapter 1: The Role of a Plan Administrator
• Chapter 2: Complying with IRC Qualification Requirements
• Chapter 3: Avoiding Noncompliance Penalties
• Chapter 4: Plan Termination

Module 7: Working with Plan Participants

• Chapter 1: Designing Effective Participant Education Programs
• Chapter 2: Administering Pre-Retirement Distributions
• Chapter 3: Administering Post-Retirement Distributions
• Chapter 4: Distributions Following the Participant’s Death
• Chapter 5: Approaching Other Plan Participant Issues