In 2008, SBA became a Program Partner of the CFA Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia. CFA Program Partners are high-profile institutions of global stature, academic leaders, and champions of practical, relevant, and thought-provoking investment education programs. Only 151 academic institutions have been accepted to be Program Partners with SBA being the only one in the GCC region. The American University of Sharjah is the first CFA Program Partner in the Middle East. In the wider Arab World, only AUB has entered into such a prestigious relationship with the CFA Institute.

SBA’s status as a CFA Program Partner signals to students and employers that its Finance curriculum is closely tied to the practice of investment management and is helpful to students preparing for the CFA exams. The CFA Charter, which requires the passing of three consecutive exams in the areas of accounting, economics, finance, statistics, and business ethics, is regarded by industry practitioners as the “gold standard”¹. As one of the partnership conditions, SBA has incorporated 70 percent of the CFA Level I Exam Curriculum into its BSBA Finance Major. SBA is planning to extend this partnership to its upcoming Masters of Science in Finance program. The Dean of SBA, Dr. Jorg Bley, serves as the CFA Program Partner Director and liaises with the CFA Institute. Over the last five years, 35 CFA Level I Exam Scholarships have been awarded, with the majority of the recipients passing the exam at the first attempt. The annual CFA Research Competition in the UAE was won twice by a team of SBA undergraduate students led by Dr. Mohsen Saad.

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1. “Getting into US Investment Banking” by Rachel Sanderson, Financial Times 13.8.2010.