Two New Jersey universities were among six honored with TD Ameritrade Institutional’s 2020 RIA NextGen Grant awards, the financial services firm announced recently
Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, and William Paterson University, in Wayne, were given $15,000 grants as part of the program designed to help the financial industry bolster its next generation of registered investment advisers with a more robust, more diverse pipeline of talent.
William Paterson, a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution, was cited for its “demonstrated commitment to educate and train future financial planners,” the university said in a news release. It intends to use the grant to increase outreach to local high schools and community colleges, to boost financial-planning education and encourage interest in financial planning as a career.
“We’re thrilled to be selected for this grant from TD Ameritrade Institutional, and proud to be among the institutions that will help to enhance diversity and increase enrollment of minority students in our financial planning program,” Tao Guo, professor of financial planning at the Cotsakos College of Business, said in a prepared statement.
The other four schools were: Central Washington University, Charleston Southern University, Franklin University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The institution said this was the first time the program, in its eighth year, earmarked a grant specifically for a Historically Black College and University, Hispanic-Serving Institution or minority-serving institution.
The program honors schools that have demonstrated a commitment to educating future financial planners.
TD Ameritrade also awarded 12 students around the country with $5,000 scholarships. Four scholarships were awarded specifically to students from underrepresented demographic groups.
Since 2013, the program has awarded $1.2 million in grants to 21 universities and 94 scholarships totaling nearly $500,000 — part of a 10-year, $5 million commitment to the future of the industry.
