UC Irvine Extension Awarded Grant to Translate Free, Online Financial Planning Course into Spanish

Translation Enables Underserved Populations All Over the World Access to
Financial Planning Information
IRVINE, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
The University of California, Irvine today announced the addition of a free
online Spanish course to its Open Courseware Web site, "Fundamentals of
Financial Planning" with the help of a grant by the Certified Financial Planner
Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board). The translation of this course provides
online financial planning information to underserved consumers, free of charge.

"Previously, the English version of the program had been developed with the
generous aid of a CFP Board grant in 2006, which allowed the program to be
offered free through the University`s OpenCourseWare (OCW) site," explained Dr.
Gary W. Matkin, dean of Continuing Education at University of California,
Irvine. "We`re excited to translate the program into Spanish and make it
available to Spanish speakers all over the world."

Available now on the University`s OCW Web site at http://ocw.uci.edu/courses/,
the Spanish translation of the course helps break the language barrier for many
students who desire to learn financial planning basics such as: budgeting,
calculating individual net worth, investment basics, and college planning, and
much more. UC Irvine Extension`s course is part of the University`s growing Open
CourseWare (OCW) movement which allows self-learners to view and utilize
University of California-quality materials and complete courses, at any time and
at no cost.

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is a regulatory
organization that creates and enforces uniform standards of competency, practice
and ethics of financial planners. Its mission is to benefit the public by
granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of
excellence for personal financial planning.

As the continuing-education arm of a prestigious university, UC Irvine Extension
is dedicated to providing a transforming learning experience for students and
teachers, offering thousands of exciting courses and programs to local, regional
and global constituencies via online curriculum as well as through on campus
classes. UC Irvine Extension offers a rich array of academic and personal
development programs to support a diverse audience from a wide selection of
academic programs to numerous campus events and activities. UC Irvine Extension
continues to provide a university-level learning experience to all students.

About UC Irvine`s OpenCourseWare Initiative: The University of California,
Irvine was the first University of California campus-and West Coast
University-to join the OCW Consortium. UC Irvine`s membership in the OCW
Consortium is consistent with its public- and land-grant missions and its desire
to play a significant role in contributing to the social welfare of the state,
the nation and the world. Open educational resources (OER) showcase the
University`s high quality education and makes courses and course materials free
for everyone in the world. UC Irvine`s OCW is a large-scale, Web-based resource
that houses educational assets that are discoverable, searchable, modifiable,
and, best of all, free and easily available. Through the OCW Movement, UC Irvine
provides university-quality courses and learning assets to populations of self
learners that are underserved and in many cases, unable to participate in formal
education at a university. This site also offers access to UC Irvine`s online
continuing education offerings. For its leadership of the OCW movement,
University of California, Irvine has been identified as one of the top 10
providers of free online courses. The ranking, published by
Education-Portal.com, recognized UC Irvine for providing high-quality,
university-level courses, free of charge, to learners around the globe. For more
information about UC Irvine`s OCW initiative, visit http://ocw.uci.edu/ or
e-mail ocw@unx.uci.edu.

About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California, Irvine
is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community
service. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing University of
California campuses, with more than 27,000 undergraduate and graduate students
and about 1,400 faculty members. The second-largest employer in dynamic Orange
County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3.3 billion. For more UCI
news, visit www.today.uci.edu.

for UC Irvine Extension
Vivian Chan, 949-486-8960 ext. 235
vivian@echomediapr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009