Careers

Employment trends

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2021 Edition.

a In many occupations certification (such as the CFP(R)) or a higher educational level (graduate degree) can improve one's chances of occupational advancement, attracting new clients, higher salary, etc. See the Occupational Outlook Handbook for information about the value of continuing your education.

b They research political ideas and analyze governments, policies, political trends, and related issues. About half work in federal government. (Occupational Outlook Handbook)

c The Occupational Outlook Handbook does not differentiate between financial planners with and without the CFP(R); this salary from CNN's www.payscale.com-based analysis found at http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/2017/01/05/best-jobs-2017/27.html

Recent graduates' employment

• Ph.D. Graduates

  2022

  Aditi Routh, Ph.D. Economist at Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.  Her dissertation titled Effect of Personality Traits on Payment Behavior: Evidence from the United States was supervised by Dr. Sophia Anong

  Dyna Ty, Ph.D. His dissertation titled Residential satisfaction: First-time homeownership and common interest developments was supervised by Dr. Andy Carswell

  Jaeyong Yoo, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Property Management at  Virginia Tech.  His dissertation titled Predicting U.S. Migration Flows with Online Search Data was supervised by Dr. Patryk Babiarz

  2021

  Martha Fulk, Ph.D. Researcher at American College.  Her dissertation titled The Description and Application of a New Measure of Financial Decision-maker Risk Aversion was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Portia Johnson, Ph.D. Assistant Professor at Auburn University. Her dissertation titled Homeownership Literacy: a mixed-methods proposal toward consensus, definition, and conceptualization was supervised by Dr. Kim Skobba and Dr. Andy Carswell

  Michael Ryan, Ph.D. - Professor and Dept. Head of Economics and Finance at the University of North Georgia. His dissertation titled Preferences for Defined Benefit versus Defined Contribution Retirement Plans: The Impact of Financial Literacy, Risk Tolerance, and Time Orientation was supervised by Dr. Cude

  Tammy Williams, Ph.D.- Lecturer in UGA Dept. of Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics. her dissertation titled Real and Perceived Financial and Financial Aid Obstacles:  An Examination of the Factors that Impact the Completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the Transition from Secondary to Postsecondary Education in U.S. High Schools was supervised by Dr. Diann Moorman

  2020

  Jamie Lynn Byram, Ph.D.  Instructor with the Department of Finance, Insurance, and Business Law in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech University - Her dissertation titled Financial and Marital Satisfaction Among Married Couples was supervised by Dr. John Grable.

  Youngjoo Choung, Ph.D.  is employed with Samsung.  Her dissertation titled Depression and the Financial Planning Horizon was supervised by Dr. Swarn Chatterjee

  Sae Rom Chung, Ph.D. - Post-doc in College of Public Health, UGA.  Her dissertation  titled The Effect of Income on Quality of Life and Survival Expectation Among Older Adults in America: Evidence From the Social Security Notch was supervised by Dr. Patryk Babiarz

  Timi Jorgensen, Ph.D.- Assistant Professor and Director of Financial Literacy at American College for Financial Services.  Her dissertation titled Inclusive Financial Wellbeing and Empowerment: An Intersectional Analysis was supervised by Dr. Kenneth White

  Seongsu Kim, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor in the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate Department at St. Cloud State University. His dissertation titled The mediation effect of indoor air quality on health: A comparison of homeowners and renters was supervised by Dr. Andrew Carswell. 

  Ebun Odeyemi, Ph.D. - Planning Coordinator, Division of Housing and Community Development in the City of Memphis, TN. Her dissertation titled An analysis of housing affordability and housing quality among rural female-headed households in the United States was supervised by Dr. Kimberly Skobba

  Narang Park, Ph.D.  – Lecturer in UGA Dept. of Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics. Her dissertation, A Test of the Association Between Generalized Stress and Financial Well-being was supervised by Dr. John Grable.

  Kristin Short, Ph.D.- Radix Financial LLC. Her dissertation titled “Knowledge is Power”: The Effect of Financial Education on Financial Stress Among Graduate Students was supervised by Dr. Joseph Goetz

  2019

  Michelle Kruger, Ph.D.    Assistant Professor of Finance, in Noonan School of Business, Loras College.  Her dissertation, Three Essays on Financial Satisfaction and the Joint Financial Management of Couples was supervised by Dr. John Grable.

  Jeffrey Robert, Ph.D. Assistant Collegiate Professor of Real Estate in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech.  His dissertation, The Influence of Privately and Publicly Induced Rezoning on Residential Real Estate Prices was supervised by Dr. Velma Zahirovic-Herbert

  Michael Thomas, Ph.D.  Lecturer in UGA's Department of Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics.  His dissertation, The Impact of Financial Knowledge, Financial Skill, Financial Attitudes, and Social Capital on Financial Well-Being across Federal Poverty Level Status  was supervised by Dr. Lance Palmer

  2018

  Morgan Bryant, Ph.D.  Assistant Professor, Marketing, Saint Joseph's University.  Her dissertation, Commerce, Camille, and Consumption: Three Essays Evaluating Social Commerce Influences on Consumer Purchasing Behavior was supervised by Dr. Sheri Worthy.

  Amy Hubble, Ph.D. Principal Investment Advisor, Radix Financial, LLC.  Her dissertation, The Amalgamation of Professional Judgement: A Mean-variant Approach from an International Survey of Financial Advisers was supervised by Dr. Swarn Chatterjee

  Kimberly Watkins, Ph.D.    Assistant Professor, University of Alabama.  Her dissertation, An Examination of Financial Socialization and the Role of Parent-Child Relationship Quality on Financial Well-Being was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  2017

  Judith Aboagye, Ph.D.  Research Content Analyst, Hanover Research. Her dissertation, Provider and Consumer Perspectives on Use of Mobile Money and Microfinance in Ghana was supervised by Dr. Sophia Anong

  Lu Fan, Ph.D.  Assistant Professor, Department of Personal Financial Planning, College for Human Environmental Sciences,  University of Missouri.  Her dissertation, The Influences of Financial Help-Seeking and Other Information Sources on Consumer's Financial Management Behavior was supervised by Dr. Swarn Chatterjee

  Ilyar Heydari, Ph.D. His dissertation, Three Essays on The Impact of Child Support Programs on Single Mothers’ Material Well-being, Labor Supply and Children’s Achievements was supervised by Dr. Patryk Babiarz

  Jiyoung Jung, Ph.D.  Lecturer, Sookmyung Women's University and Sangmyung University, Korea.  Her dissertation, The Effects of Framing and Financial Stress on the Saving Intentions was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Aman Sunder, Ph.D.  Chair for the Graduate Program and Head Faculty, College of Financial Planning.  His dissertation, Three Essays on the Comparison of Financial Advice from Different Types of Advisors While Recovering from the Great Recession was supervised by Dr. Lance Palmer

  Lini Zhang, Ph.D.  Assistant Professor, School of Business, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.   Her dissertation, Factors Affecting Chinese Consumers' Purchase Intentions for Luxury Clothing was supervised by Dr. Brenda Cude.

  Haidong Zhao, Ph.D.  Assistant Professor, School of Business, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.  His dissertation, The Effect of Financial Incentives on NFC Mobile Payment Adoption was supervised by Dr. Sophia Anong.

  2016

  Stephen Kuzniak, Ph.D. Financial Advisor, Cannon Financial Strategists, Inc.  His dissertation, A Test of the Effects of Biopsychosocial and Environmental, Social Support, and Macroeconomic Factors on Financial Risk Tolerance was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Lekhnath Chalise, Ph.D. Economist, Bureau of Labor Statistics. His dissertation, Extensive and Intensive Margins of Health Insurance Demand, was supervised by Dr. Sophia Anong.

  Wookjae Heo, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Consumer Sciences at South Dakota State University. His dissertation, Improvement of Prediction on the Demand for Life Insurance by Using Artificial Neural Networks Estimation, was supervised by Dr. John Grable.

  Tae-Young Pak, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Consumer Science at University of Alabama. His dissertation, Three Essays on Household Portfolio Choice, was supervised by Dr. Patryk Babiarz.

  Abed Rabbani, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Personal Financial Planning at the University of Missouri. His dissertation, Affective Evaluation of Financial Risk Tolerance, was supervised by Dr. John Grable.

  Jorge Ruiz-Menjivar. Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences at University of Florida. His dissertation, Using Rash Measurement Theory to Evaluate the Psychometric Quality of a Financial Risk Tolerance Scale, was supervised by Dr. John Grable.

  2015 

  Dipesh Gangopadhyay, Ph.D. National Sample Survey Organization, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India. His dissertation, Measurement of Multidimensional Deprivation Using Capability Approach and Fuzzy Set Theory: A study on the United States, was supervised by Dr. Robert Nielsen.

  Kristi-Warren Scott, Ph.D. Economist, Social Security Administration. Her dissertation, Obesity in the South: Do Subjective Measures of Food Access Matter? was supervised by Dr. Velma Zahirovic-Herbert.

• M.S. Graduates

  2016

  Sae Chung, M.S.  Her thesis was supervised by Dr. Robert Nielsen

  Jane Hoeferkamp, M.S.

  Hee-Jung Park, M.S. currently pursuing Ph.D. at University of Wyoming,  His thesis was supervised by Dr. Lance Palmer

  Jessica Parks, M.S. currently pursuing her Ph.D. in FHCE at UGA.  Her thesis was supervised by Dr. Joe Goetz

  2015

  Xuan Chen, M.S. Her thesis, How Does Financial Capability Work? An Exploration of Financial Capability Mechanism, was supervised by Dr. Ann Woodyard. 

• M.S.-NT Graduates

  2021

  Kat Attaway, M.S.

  Erin Bruce, M.S.

  Shiv Chadha, M.S.

  Charles Clark, M.S.

  Carlyn Clevenger, M.S.

  Joel Davis, M.S.

  Carson Fields, M.S.

  Meghan Flanagan, M.S.

  Jard Hadlock, M.S.

  Haris Haq, M.S.

  Richard Hodgkinson, M.S.

  Rashon Howard, M.S.

  Da-Zha Jones, M.S.

  De'Quan Lawrence, M.S.

  Charline Mayo, M.S.

  Anettra Mapp, M.S.

  Ian McGraw, M.S.

  Lindsay McKay, M.S.

  Scott Miller, M.S.

  Matthew Morris, M.S.

  Ana Negron-Lopez, M.S.

  George Ray, M.S.

  Kyle Ray, M.S.

  Braxton Rhone, M.S.

  Leah Ruark, M.S.

  Thomas Schorn, M.S.

  Thomas Schorn II, M.S.

  LaFarrah Smith, M.S.

  Duncan Wheeler, M.S.

  Winnie Williams, M.S.

  Fantong Zeng, M.S.

  2020

  Carl Barwick, M.S.

  Jeffrey Bassler, M.S.

  Angela Berry, M.S.

  William Boswell, M.S.

  Dana Carney, M.S.

  Haley Clark, M.S.

  Joseph Cleland, M.S.

  Taylor Coates, M.S.

  Breanne Coffey, M.S.

  Ethan Crider, M.S.

  Durrell Cullens, M.S.

  Phillip Duckworth

  Albert Erb, M.S.

  Flora Gitichie, M.S.

  John Higgins, M.S.

  Keaton Hineman, M.S.

  Ryan Kelly, M.S.

  Chloe Knoblock, M.S.

  Erin Kunz, M.S.

  Ronald Lotti, M.S.

  Aaron Neeley, M.S.

  Emma Nichols, M.S.

  Juwan Parker, M.S.

  Alexis Smith, M.S.

  Julie Stephens, M.S.

  Mark Strand, M.S.

  Adam Thorne, M.S.

  Charles Toole, M.S.

  Austin Turner, M.S.

  Leland Wallace, M.S.

  Kevin White, M.S.

  Rebecca Wilton, M.S.

  Manuel Zubia, M.S.

  2019

  2018

  Nicholas Bouwman, M.S. Financial Advisor with Edward Jones.  His Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. Joe Goetz

  Nathan Burcham, M.S. His Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. Ann Woodyard

  Ashley Collins, M.S.  Her Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Justin Douglas, M.S.  His Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Faith Greene, M.S. Her Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. Joe Goetz

  Quentin Harris, M.S.  Contract Specialist, Missile Defense Agency.  His Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Jarrett Hindrew, M.S.  His Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Judge Johnson, M.S. Associate Planner with Cannon Financial Strategists.  His Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. Lance Palmer

  Caroline McHam, M.S. Financial Planning Analyst with Elwood and Goetz.  Her Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. Joe Goetz

  MacKenzie Myers, M.S.  Data & Analytics Consultant with Protiviti.  Her Consumer Economics program was supervised by Dr. Kim Skobba

  Michael Reich, M.S.  His Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Charles Robinson, M.S.  Wealth Advisor with Cornerstone Wealth.  His Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Julie Roth, M.S.  Support Advisor with Monterey Private Wealth.  Her Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Kyung-Hwa Shin, M.S.  Her Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. Ann Woodyard

  Travis Smith, M.S. His Financial Planning Program was supervised by  Dr. Ann Woodyard

  Melissa Visbal, M.S. Financial Planning Associate with Narwhal Capital.  Her Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. Swarn Chatterjee

  Amanda Walker, M.S. Her Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. Swarn Chatterjee

  Nicole White, M.S.  Her Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Michelle Wolff, M.S.  Her Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Kai Lun Zhang, M.S. Her Financial Planning Program was supervised by Dr. Swarn Chatterjee

  2017

  Jordan Arave, M.S. His Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Kat Attaway, M.S. Her Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Melanie Dabb, M.S. Her Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. Ann Woodyard

  Greg Fawcett, M.S.  His Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Kesheena Hamilton, M.S. Her Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. Ann Woodyard

  Justin Hills, M.S. His Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Hattie Hutson, M.S. Partner at Mountain State Analytics, LLC.  Her Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Jesse Jones, M.S. Planning and Production Control Specialist with Raytheon.  His Consumer Economics program was supervised by Dr. Andy Carswell

  Joshua Moore, M.S.  Vice President, Private Client Advisor with U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management.  His Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. Ann Woodyard

  David Nicholas, M.S. His Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. Ann Woodyard

  Amanda Standard, M.S. Her Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. Joe Goetz

  Colton Strawn, M.S. His Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. Swarn Chatterjee

  Joel Theis, M.S. His Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Brady Yeater, M.S. His Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. Ann Woodyard

  Mi Zhou, M.S. Her Consumer Economics program was supervised by Dr. Patryk Babiarz

  2016

  Aysha Babb, M.S. Financial Planning Analyst, Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group. Her Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. Joe Goetz

  Joshua Bousfield, M.S.

  Javier Diaz, M.S. Associate Financial Planner with The Connemara Group.  His Financial Planning Portfolio was supervised by Dr. Ann Woodyard.

  Christopher Harvey, M.S.

  Ben Jacobs, M.S. Financial Planning Analyst, Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group. His Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. John Grable

  Haley Pierce Moore, M.S. Operations Analyst at Landmark Properties. Her Applied Consumer Analytics program was supervised by Dr. Robert Nielsen.

  Joe Paoletti, M.S. First Vice President with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.  His Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. Ann Woodyard

  John Pope, M.S.

  William Turner, M.S. PWC Accounting.  His Financial Planning program was supervised by Dr. Lance Palmer

  Ronald Wroble, M.S.

  2015

  Katie Thomason, M.S. Anheuser-Busch Brand Activation Manager. Her portfolio was supervised by Dr. Joseph Goetz. 

  Kevin Valentino, M.S. Private Wealth Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch. His portfolio was supervised by Dr. Joseph Goetz.

  Russell Whitehead, M.S. Apprentice Financial Planner, Gen Y Planning. His portfolio was supervised by Dr. John Grable.