The CFP Board-administered, 10-hour, two-day exam was conducted at 50 sites nationwide and three internationally.

Since 1995, when the exam completed transition to its current comprehensive format, 30,326 candidates have sat for the exam and 22,275 have passed either on their first try or on subsequent attempts. The cumulative pass rate is 73 percent.

The exam covers more than 100 topics based on periodic studies of the job knowledge necessary to practice financial planning.

The CFP Board does not publish pass rates for all academic programs. Instead, it publishes an overall pass rate, then informs each academic program how its students performed.

Separately, the College for Financial Planning, an independent study program, said its students had an overall pass rate of 76 percent on the July exam. When College for Financial Planning graduates were removed from the mix, the national average pass rate for the balance of test takers was 54 percent.

The next exam will be held November 21-22 for candidates who have qualified to sit for the exam by meeting CFP Board's education requirements. The deadline for completed applications is October 8.