Winthrop offers a Bachelor of Science in finance with both a corporate finance track
and a financial planning track. Graduates have a job placement rate of 90 percent. 
ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA — For the second year in a row, Financial Planning Magazine has recognized Winthrop University as one of the top 95 schools in the nation educating
the next generation of financial planners.
Winthrop offers a Bachelor of Science in finance with both a corporate finance track
and a financial planning track, and has five faculty members assigned to the program.
In its list, Financial Planning notes:
*Winthrop's state-of-the-art trading lab with Bloomberg terminals;
*Students are taught how to build financial plans and portfolios using Excel, MoneyGuidePro,
Morningstar Direct and Bloomberg; and
*Graduates have a job placement rate of 90 percent.
Assistant Professor of Finance Philip Gibson said he and Jimmy Cheng, also an assistant professor, have been working to increase
awareness of the financial planning program's national reputation.
"I see us building from several angles," Gibson said. "One, student development in
the classroom; two, student professional development by going to conferences, networking
and participating in competitions; and three, by conducting research that will help
to build financial planning."
Just last month, a Winthrop student team competed in the 2017 National Financial Planning
Challenge, beating hundreds of other teams to get to the national level and placing
fifth overall. Additionally, Gibson and Cheng are working on research geared toward
helping financial planning practitioners, publishing articles and papers in the Journal
of Financial Planning and Journal of Personal Finance.
Only three other schools in the Carolinas made the list: Clemson University, Gardner-Webb
University and Winston-Salem University.
For more information on Winthrop's financial planning track, visit the website or contact Gibson at 803/323-2686 or gibsonp@winthrop.edu.
