Table of Contents

Chapter 1

The American College was founded in 1927. That was the year Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs, Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic, Al Jolson starred in the first talking movie called The Jazz Singer, and the life expectancy of a male in the United States was 54.1 years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 175, and a new car cost $495.

The world was a much different place in those days. The life insurance industry was also much different than it is today. For life insurers those were more stable times: Mentalities were slow to change, promotion from within was the tradition, and continuity of the past was the strategy for the future. They were also simpler times: The life insurance agent sold a few basic types of policies, and the career agency system was the dominant channel of sales that continued to grow and prosper. The only barrier to a successful career as a life insurance agent was "call reluctance."

Today there are many more barriers to a successful career as a life insurance agent. Life insurance products are far more complicated than in the past, and there are more of them. Agents are now selling a wide variety of products, and most of these products pass much of the financial risk to the consumer. This is a fundamental difference from years gone by. As a result, agents must accept greater responsibility for the advice and recommendations they give to clients because the financial consequences of today’s financial decisions can have a profound impact on the long-term financial security of the client, the family, and the business. In this environment clients expect more from their agents, and these higher expectations are justified.

Today’s successful life insurance agent is also a financial consultant, and this requires knowledge—gained through continuing education—that is both up-to-date and applicable to the client’s situation. In addition to being knowledgeable, the professional agent must be ethical. The code by which The American College alumni are expected to adhere is a version of the Golden Rule. It states that insurance professionals will endeavor to provide the same advice and service to the client as they would apply to themselves. The professional must have knowledge and ethics—one without the other is unacceptable.

While the early environment was vastly different from the fast-changing, uncertain world of today, the early leaders of The American College made decisions relative to the founding of this institution that were as prudent then as they are now. Those early leaders set the philosophy of education that still prevails at the College. It was they who insisted upon the highest level of educational standards—the same level of standards that exists today.

The American College reflected the life insurance industry during those early years. Its sole designation was the Chartered Life Underwriter with a five-course curriculum. The only other educational programs offered were management certificate courses that were designed for field managers. There was no full-time faculty specializing in the various disciplines of financial services to write the textbooks for the courses. In 1962 the College employees fit nicely into Huebner Hall—with space for the American Society of CLU & ChFC, the American Institute of CPCU, and its Society.

The decade of the 1970s was the beginning of a rapidly changing environment for life insurance. Perhaps 1978 was the pivotal year. It was the year that universal life insurance was introduced to the general public. It was the beginning of the best of times and the worst of times for The American College. Over the next 2 decades the College would experience its most rapid rate of growth but also the largest buildup of indebtedness in its history. The decisions to build a full-time faculty, to operate a full-service library, and to attain academic accreditation with the introduction of a masters degree program were made in the mid-seventies. In 1976 the College decided to change its name from The American College of Life Underwriters to simply The American College. This decision was highly controversial at the time. However, in retrospect it was a visionary decision of a vastly changing industry that would be greatly influenced by the public’s primary concern shifting from the financial risks of dying too soon to the financial risks of living too long. A monumental decision in 1978 was to build a modern, full-service conference center that included residency rooms.

Beginning in the 1980s, competition accelerated, and new products proliferated. Annuities and mutual funds became important financial products. The College’s courses and curricula began to mirror these changes. In 1982 the College introduced its Chartered Financial Consultant designation and 13 years later added the Registered Health Underwriter and the Registered Employee Benefits Consultant designations. It also added a five-course track for those who want to take the Certified Financial Planner^® certification examination. By the late 1980s, the College had more than 40 courses in its various curricula, as well as a wide variety of short continuing education courses. No longer does the College see its constituency as a homogenous group of life insurance agents. Today its students represent a broad and diversified financial services industry. This is the new era of The American College.

This publication illustrates the breadth of subjects that the College faculty can discuss in depth and with accuracy, and it is an example of the diversity of knowledge the financial services professional must possess for the years ahead.

For 70 years The American College has provided professional education to life insurance agents, expanding its curriclae in recent years to include all financial services professionals. The College is well positioned to be the dominant professional education provider for an integrated financial services industry. Financial planning will continue to grow as the methodology for solving financial problems. The American College will continue to educate those who want the knowledge to meet the financial planning needs of their clients.

The need for The American College over the next 70 years will be even greater than it has been over the past 70 years. The year 2000 is just ahead, but a new era for the financial services professional has already begun.

Samuel H. Weese
President and CEO