2024-2025 CFA Exam Cost Breakdown: A Detailed Estimate

When evaluating the benefits of the CFA charter, we quite often come to the discussion on whether CFA is a good return on investment

Whilst the return part of the equation is subjective and trickier to estimate (as the potential gains depends on various factors unique to you), the monetary cost is more predictable with a narrower range that is similar for most candidates. 

​Here’s a proper guide on all the relevant CFA exam cost you really need to budget for all 3 levels of the CFA exams, including CFA course fees if you choose to use third party study materials.

We are going to first dive straight into the the total costs of CFA exams (and its assumptions). Then, we will delve into the details of the 5 main types of costs, before finally discussing money-saving tips to further slash these fees.

Let’s do this 🙂


The total CFA exam cost ranges from $3,220-$8,270 for all 3 levels

cfa exam cost

The total cost of all 3 CFA exams ranges from $3,220-$8,270, assuming 3 consecutive passes with no travel & accommodation costs.

These are the 2024-2025 CFA exam fees breakdown by level:

  • CFA Level 1: $1,340–$2,990
  • CFA Level 2: $940–$2,590
  • CFA Level 3: $940–$2,690

The two significant factors that affect the cost range are:

  • the date of exam registration, and
  • the choice of study material.

Let’s go through each of the 5 key cost components so you can further improve your cost estimates.


1) CFA enrollment and registration fees for Level 1, 2 & 3 – [REQUIRED]

CFA Enrollment and Registration Fees

CFA fees consists of:

  1. a one-off enrollment fee of US$350​ (paid once the first time you register for Level 1), plus
  2. Registration fees per level of $940-$1,250 for 2024 and $940-$1,390 for 2025

Here are the 2024-2025 exam fees payable to CFA Institute and relevant registration deadlines (until 11:59pm Eastern Time respectively):

Fee type (for all Levels)2024 (US$)2025 (US$)
One-time Enrollment Fee
​(paid once only during first Level 1 registration)
$350$350
Registration Fee
​(for each Level or retake):
 
CFA Level 1 or 2
          Early Registration$940$990
          Standard Registration$1,250$1,290
CFA Level 3 only
          Early Registration$940$1,090
          Standard Registration$1,250$1,390

2) CFA calculator’s price (TI BA II Plus or HP12C) – [REQUIRED]

CFA Calculator Cost BA II Plus HP12C

This is something most candidates forget to budget in for, although it’s a relatively small amount of $50 on average.

For those who prefer to bring a spare calculator as a backup during exams, remember to double the cost below accordingly.

Here are the prices of each of the 4 CFA approved calculators:

Not sure which calculator to choose? Check out our BA II Plus vs. HP12C guide →


3) CFA study materials’ cost – [OPTIONAL]

CFA Study Material Cost Level 1,2 and 3

There are 2 aspects to this, which depends on whether you’re using CFA curriculum or third party study materials as your primary source of learning:

  • Physical CFA curriculum books (extra $250 per Level): The CFA registration fees comes with the e-book version of the curriculum by default. If you prefer to have hard copies of the CFA curriculum books, you’ll need to fork out an extra $250 (plus additional shipping fee) per Level. If you live outside USA, it is likely that you’ll be charged import duties and/or customs fee upon delivery as well.
  • Third party study materials ($99-$1,399 per Level): While it is perfectly feasible to study just from CFA curriculum itself, some candidates may choose to spend a little extra to use more concise third party study materials to save time. This cost depends on the type of package and prep provider you choose for each CFA exam level. Given the wide range, I’ll provide more guidance on typical, necessary spending in a later section.

Here is a quick summary of the main types of study material packages offered by each CFA prep provider, and its associated cost per Level:

CFA study materials cost comparison (by prep provider and study packages)

Study Material Cost,
​per CFA Level (US$)
Self Study*Premium (Online)Premium (Online)
​+ Review Course*
Kaplan Schweser$699$999​$1,399
UWorld$499$699$1,199
Salt Solution$599-$749
Cost Range ($)$199 – $699
​per Level
$575 – $1,199
per Level
$1,299
​per Level

* Self study packages typically include study notes, question bank and practice exams. Premium courses (online or classroom-based) include learning materials in self-study package, plus online/classroom lectures and 2-3 days review workshops.

CFA third party study materials: How much realistically do I need to spend?

cfa candidate more recommended books orig

In my view, it would be difficult (though not impossible) to go for a “Bare Minimum” cost scenario, i.e. aiming for Early registration for all Levels, and spend nothing on third party study materials, relying exclusively on CFA curriculum e-Books. 

Just to be more helpful, based on many candidates experiences (including mine), a “Realistic Average” cost scenario would be budgeting $800 per Level for third party study materials, assuming you’re using that as your main source of learning materials. This sufficiently covers the cost for either:

  • A Study Notes only package, plus 6-7 mock exams; or
  • A Self Study package (includes 4 mock exams), plus 1-2 extra mock exams from other sources.

For those with a little extra budget, or just simply prefer to have lectures and review courses included, a “Realistic Premium” cost scenario would be budgeting for $1,000 per Level for third party study materials, assuming you’re using that as your main source of learning materials. This covers the cost for a typical online premium course, with all the bells and whistles included (e.g. lectures and last minute review workshops).


4) Other CFA costs: Travel, retake & rescheduling costs – [IF APPLICABLE]

CFA Exam Retake Fee & Travel Cost

Despite offering 400+ test locations around the world for the computer-based testing (CBT), some CFA candidates may still have to travel some distance to a test center, and/or make accommodation arrangements to stay overnight nearby. These additional costs (if applicable to you) needs to be taken into account for all 3 levels as well.

Another significant cost consideration would be exam retake fees (and the associated study material costs if using a prep provider). As you can see from the Registration Fee and Study Material sections, each exam retake costs $940-$1,390 in standard registration fees (required) and perhaps another $750-$1,500 if you need to purchase the latest study materials.

Finally, with CBT exams, there is also a standard $250 rescheduling fee applicable if you need to change your original exam appointment.

Unfortunately, the monetary cost of failure is high with CFA exams, but we are here to help with a few moneysaving tips further below.


5) CFA Institute’s annual dues for regular membership – [IF APPLICABLE]

CFA Annual Membership Fee

Finally, if you have passed all 3 levels of the CFA exams, and submitted qualifying work experiences and references, all you have to do is apply for regular member to obtain your CFA Charter. This annual membership costs US$299 per year going forward.

An important note: you have the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst or CFA marks only if you are a Regular Member of the CFA Institute.

In other words, being a Regular Member of the CFA Institute is a prerequisite to earning the CFA Charter.


How to reduce CFA exam costs: Tips, discounts & free resources

How to Reduce CFA Exam Costs Discount Promo Code
  • Aim for Early registration, if you can: This saves $310 off the Standard registration fee of $1,250 for every Level. We also recommend candidates to register early in order to have sufficient study time to maximize your pass chances.
  • Get company sponsorship for your CFA exams: This may not be as tricky as it seems, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to apply for sponsorship from your firm. It’s really worth a shot considering you may get your whole CFA costs for free, you won’t know till you ask (properly).
  • Finally, check our Offers Page for study material sale & discounts: Third party study materials can be a valuable time-saver and excellent, complementary study resource to the CFA Curriculum. As it is a big component of the total costs of CFA exam, it is worth checking out the Offers page before purchasing. 

Hope this helps with budgeting. How much did you spend so far on your CFA preparations? Let me know in the comments below!

Meanwhile, here are some related articles that may be of interest:

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15 thoughts on “2024-2025 CFA Exam Cost Breakdown: A Detailed Estimate”

  1. Hello,

    This was so helpful.

    1. Any chance you have discounts for Fitch Learning?

    2. Also, I am trying to access L2 print CFA books early. I am debating whether to buy them off Amazon but the total book plus shipping cost to my country is about $350 ($207 + $92). This is higher than what I would pay if I wait to register through CFA.However, CFAI has not yet opened Nov 2023 registration and I plan to apply for a scholarship so I wont be able to register till I get the scholarship decision at end of March. I would like to start reading on March 1st. Do you have any work arounds for this?

    3 Is the cost of print books still $150+ through CFAI? I read somewhere that they had doubled that cost but maybe that was incorrect. Please let me know. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Hi Christina, I’m glad you found our summary helpful! To answer your questions:

      1) Unfortunately we currently don’t have a discount for Fitch Learning. Is there a particular course you’re interested in? I can reach out to Fitch to see if we can get any for you 🙂

      2) Yikes, that sounds expensive, but you’re right the price has increased for 2023 curriculum, it used to be $150! I think I may have a workaround here 🙂

      Here’s an idea, given that there are minimal changes this year with 2022 vs 2023 curriculum, it may be worth getting second hand 2022 curriculum books, check our article to compare which topics were unchanged between 2022 and 2023 and focus your studies on those first, before April 2023?

      3) You’re right that prices have increased to $200+ plus shipping ($200-250 currently), depending on vendor. We have updated the article for this.

      Reply
  2. Can we get access to all the study material of CFA by only paying one time enrolment charges and pay the registration fee later on after two three months?

    Reply
  3. Is the scholarship only applicable to the program registration fee only and not for one time registration fee?
    Ordinarily for L1, I’d have to pay $450 (one-time registration) + $700 (program registration) = $1150. How much do I have to pay if I land the access scholarship?

    Reply
    • The CFA Program Access Scholarship waives the one-time program enrollment fee, and discounts the exam registration fee to $250, which includes access to the curriculum and all available study tools.

      So $1,150 → $250.

      Reply

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