Degree dilemma

[freeloader]

I am trying to decide what my next degree(s) should be and would love some additional opinions. I earned a BA and MA in history years ago on-campus from brink and mortar colleges. I was super lucky to get a government job in a finance/accounting role that I really like. Without an accounting degree I can definitely get promoted a couple of times, to go beyond that an accounting degree/CPA would definitely be helpful. I also would like to have an accounting degree/CPA as a backup should I stop working for the government for whatever reason. 

I am enrolled at a local university (that does not accept ACE credit, unfortunately). I am a planner/investigator by nature and this school is by far the easiest/cheapest/fastest way for me to meet my state’s CPA requirements.  

I would like to earn a master’s degree in accounting and am eyeing Emporia State University online. I have talked to their admissions people and the courses I am taking at my local university to meet the CPA requirements will be sufficient for admissions to the master’s program, assuming I maintain my (pretty high) business/accounting GPA. 

I am considering 3 options:
1) Take only the required CPA classes at my local university.  This will cost me around $2,500-$2,700 in tuition and fees. I can be done with this by the end of this year or early next year. I could combine this with the Emporia State masters. Would cost about $13,000 total in tuition and fees and take about 3 years. 

2) Complete my BS in accounting at the local university.  This would cost about $7,000 in tuition and fees. The biggest problem with this is that it would take 2-3 years to finish at my pace.

3) Complete the CPA requirement courses at my local university and finish my BS in Business with concentration in General Accounting from Excelsior College. I think this would cost $5,500-$6,000 in tuition and fees. The big advantage over option 2 is that I could complete it in about 1 year. 

For what it’s worth, I have looked into WGU and talked to their admissions folks. I would pretty much have to do option 2 or 3 to be admitted. I also can’t take classes/do projects super quickly because of work and family commitments, so I would have to give up WGU’s biggest advantage. 

Also worth noting that I am funding this myself, no tuition reimbursement or time off for education. 

So, what would you do in my situation?

[natshar]

I am trying to decide what my next degree(s) should be and would love some additional opinions. I earned a BA and MA in history years ago on-campus from brink and mortar colleges. I was super lucky to get a government job in a finance/accounting role that I really like. Without an accounting degree I can definitely get promoted a couple of times, to go beyond that an accounting degree/CPA would definitely be helpful. I also would like to have an accounting degree/CPA as a backup should I stop working for the government for whatever reason. 

I am enrolled at a local university (that does not accept ACE credit, unfortunately). I am a planner/investigator by nature and this school is by far the easiest/cheapest/fastest way for me to meet my state’s CPA requirements.  

I would like to earn a master’s degree in accounting and am eyeing Emporia State University online. I have talked to their admissions people and the courses I am taking at my local university to meet the CPA requirements will be sufficient for admissions to the master’s program, assuming I maintain my (pretty high) business/accounting GPA. 

I am considering 3 options:
1) Take only the required CPA classes at my local university.  This will cost me around $2,500-$2,700 in tuition and fees. I can be done with this by the end of this year or early next year. I could combine this with the Emporia State masters. Would cost about $13,000 total in tuition and fees and take about 3 years. 

2) Complete my BS in accounting at the local university.  This would cost about $7,000 in tuition and fees. The biggest problem with this is that it would take 2-3 years to finish at my pace.

3) Complete the CPA requirement courses at my local university and finish my BS in Business with concentration in General Accounting from Excelsior College. I think this would cost $5,500-$6,000 in tuition and fees. The big advantage over option 2 is that I could complete it in about 1 year. 

For what it’s worth, I have looked into WGU and talked to their admissions folks. I would pretty much have to do option 2 or 3 to be admitted. I also can’t take classes/do projects super quickly because of work and family commitments, so I would have to give up WGU’s biggest advantage. 

Also worth noting that I am funding this myself, no tuition reimbursement or time off for education. 

So, what would you do in my situation?

Why not do your Bachelors in accounting from WGU? It would be cheaper then any of your options and faster too. Then you could be ready for the masters in 6 months time and the wgu bachelors is like 3k.

[freeloader]

I had looked at the WGU bachelor’s, but wasn’t sure that I could finish in one six-month term.  I might look at it again. Even if I needed 2 terms, it would get me done faster than my local university and for a little less money. 

I last really looked at WGU before I came across this forum and ruled it out based on how much I would have to do to meet their requirements. Have taken some classes at Sophia using their current free deal, seems like I need to look back at WGU and figure out what requirements I can get out of with alternate credit.

[natshar]

I had looked at the WGU bachelor’s, but wasn’t sure that I could finish in one six-month term.  I might look at it again. Even if I needed 2 terms, it would get me done faster than my local university and for a little less money. 

I last really looked at WGU before I came across this forum and ruled it out based on how much I would have to do to meet their requirements. Have taken some classes at Sophia using their current free deal, seems like I need to look back at WGU and figure out what requirements I can get out of with alternate credit.

Well the first thing you could do is apply (it's free) and they can evaluate everything and you can see what you need to graduate. Even if you decide not to go there it will give a picture of what you have left if you decide. Since you already have a bachelors degree you should have all the gen eds done and some other stuff too.

Just be sure to send all your prior undergrad transcripts and ACE.

[dfrecore]

I would say #1 is better than #2 - you get a MS in 3 years as opposed to a BS in 2-3 years. That's a no-brainer.

I think WGU is out - I don't think they offer a BS in Accounting any longer, just the BSBA with an Accounting concentration - and that's not enough to get into their MS in Accounting program (kind of strange that they did that).

I think a BSBA, in your situation, is not a good option - you want an actual degree in accounting. So option 3 is not a good plan at all. Just my opinion.

[LongRoad]

You're a planner/investigator by nature, so you probably have a good reason for obtaining a master's degree rather than simply getting a CPA certification. Can you share it? Would the master's degree aid you in some manner that being a CPA couldn't?
I know very little about the area of accounting, so I hoped you could expand my knowledge base.

[udi]

I would do something different if it works in your state. Take cheap accounting courses, transfer them to TESU and pay the $50. Take the one credit TECEP exam to generate a transcript at TESU. Show the Accounting Board which courses you received credit for on your transcript.

If you need a bachelor's degree in accounting to sit for the exam in your state, it won't work, but this may give you some ideas.

[jsd]

I would say #1 is better than #2 - you get a MS in 3 years as opposed to a BS in 2-3 years.  That's a no-brainer.

I think WGU is out - I don't think they offer a BS in Accounting any longer, just the BSBA with an Accounting concentration - and that's not enough to get into their MS in Accounting program (kind of strange that they did that).

I think a BSBA, in your situation, is not a good option - you want an actual degree in accounting.  So option 3 is not a good plan at all.  Just my opinion.

The WGU BSBA Acct does have the required courses for CPA certification (when combined with a Masters) -- And the BSBA page indicates you can continue on to their Masters in Accounting. but yeah that's a lot of added business courses one might not want.

[freeloader]

I would do something different if it works in your state. Take cheap accounting courses, transfer them to TESU and pay the $50. Take the one credit TECEP exam to generate a transcript at TESU. Show the Accounting Board which courses you received credit for on your transcript.

If you need a bachelor's degree in accounting to sit for the exam in your state, it won't work, but this may give you some ideas.

My state restricts applicants to 6 hours of CLEP credit and prohibits DSST credit from counting toward the 150-hour requirement. I have a former co-worker who submitted a transcript with a bunch of alternative credits that were part of her bachelor’s degree in accounting.  Even though the university accepted them as transfer credits and assigned course numbers, they would not accept her degree and they cited the DSST prohibition.  Online is fine, but they don’t like alternative credit.

[american999]

option 1 is the best option because CPA and masters is directly linked to accounting. technically any type of bachelor degree is only a stepping stone to advance academics that increase job placement opportunity. if you can, complete your cpa requirements first. the main downside from going straight to masters degree would be the foundational courses that you are not fully familiar with that will require more in depth studying in any class you will be taking to ensure you maintain your GPA specially since there will be a lot of papers and analysis involved