Two Degrees Help - Accounting to Grad in June - CIS Grad in Sept

[twodegrees]

Hello all,

First and foremost, thank you so much for such an active community and providing a great resource. I am pursuing a BSBA in Accounting with the expectation to graduate in June; meaning I'll have completed all credits by 4/1/2016. Furthermore, I'd like to obtain a second degree in BSBA in CIS to graduate in September. You might ask why. I would like to pass the CPA and in order to do so, I need an additional 30 credits. Might as well.eeya:

Attached, you will find my current degree plan with credits obtained and credits remaining. My appointment with an advisor is this coming Tuesday, 1/12/16. Please feel free to review my plan. I am part of the 2015-2016 evaluation after July of last year.

I have 14 unaccounted credits for my accounting degree. Sanantone's Plan references at least 9 credits from CSU. Is anyone familiar with any alternative UL accounting courses that I may use? Also, is anyone familiar with any UL alternatives for the CIS courses mentioned in Sanantone's plan? I don't find it it to be cost prohibitive; however, I haven't been able to find enough feedback on CSU equivalency and test preparation. For the remaining 5 credits withing my accounting plan, can these be any random LL credits? If so, should I just fill them in with Straighterline courses?

Thank you in advance.


  Less than 1 minute ago">Cost.Credits.xlsx (Size: 14.02 KB / Downloads: 1)

[dfrecore]

Before you do anything, I think you want to talk to your advisor, because getting 2 different areas of a BSBA at the same time is different than getting a second degree (and much easier). But I think you have to graduate at the same time. You just get all the core courses for the BSBA, then the 18cr of each area of study; a second degree would require 24cr.

So, if I were you, I would give serious thought to getting a DUAL degree rather than a second degree. From the website:

"Second Bachelor’s Degree

If you have earned a previous bacclaureate degree, and wish to pursue a second, you must complete a minimum of 24 additional credits in the area of study/core beyond the date your most recent undergraduate degree was completed. You must also complete all the degree requirements indicated in the Thomas Edison State College Catalog.

If you have earned your first bachelor’s from the College, you must apply again for the second degree, however, your application fee is waived. Whether you earned your first bachelor’s degree at the College or at another institution, the application process still requires an academic evaluation of your transfer credit with room for at least 24 credits relative to your area of study."

"Two Areas of Study Within One Degree

Similar to declaring a double major, you are able to pursue a second area of study within your degree program. For example, you can complete a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Bachelor of Arts in English – you would only need to complete the Area of Study requirements as outlined in the program’s credit distribution guide – because your general education requirements would remain the same (as opposed to pursuing a second degree, where you would need to fulfill another set of general education requirements). No more than 9 credits that are used in the first area of study may be used for the second area of study. All related required credits for each area of study, as well as all degree requirements, must be met at the same time. To pursue this, all you have to do is contact your academic advisor, and it will be added to your degree plan."

You said you want to get some additional accounting credits, but those would not count towards the BSBA CIS area of study - you'd need 24 credits towards the CIS area of study, then still need to get the additional 30cr towards Accounting/CPA.

If you still did want 2 totally separate degrees, it would make more sense to get the BSBA CIS first, then do the BSBA Accounting/CPA track, since you need more accounting courses. But I would stick with the dual degree.

[sanantone]

I can't link you right now, but I created a thread about the CSU Global CBEs. You might be able to get by without the recommended book, but I advise you get it. Otherwise, CSU offers plenty of test preparation after you sign up. They provide practice tests, slides, videos, and links to relevant articles.

I don't think TESC will let you get two BSBAs, but verify this. For example, TESC told me that I couldn't get a second degree in CJ because it was too similar to my first degree in social science. You can, however, complete one BSBA with two areas of specialization.

[dfrecore]

I also have a question for you: why are you taking Human Resource Management, Org Behavior, and Money & Banking? None of those count towards the Accounting or CIS degrees - they count towards the General Management only.

[twodegrees]

I also have a question for you: why are you taking Human Resource Management, Org Behavior, and Money & Banking? None of those count towards the Accounting or CIS degrees - they count towards the General Management only.

I saw them listed as Business Electives on Sanantone's lists.

I can't link you right now, but I created a thread about the CSU Global CBEs. You might be able to get by without the recommended book, but I advise you get it. Otherwise, CSU offers plenty of test preparation after you sign up. They provide practice tests, slides, videos, and links to relevant articles.

I don't think TESC will let you get two BSBAs, but verify this. For example, TESC told me that I couldn't get a second degree in CJ because it was too similar to my first degree in social science. You can, however, complete one BSBA with two areas of specialization.

I did see some of your posts. Hadn't gone through all of them. Just wanted to see if any alternatives did exist.

I will follow up with TESC to see what they advise. The first advisor informed me that if I did two areas of study, I would have to finish them both at the same time. However, as dfrecore stated, the second degree would involve another evaluation and 24 additional core credits. My intentions are to graduate with Accounting in June. If I can get a second degree out of my next 30 credits, then I hope it can be CIS. If not, we will see. Hopefully, TESC gives me the answers I want to hear and that I may proceed. Sorry, if I put the cart before the horse.

[davewill]

I would note in passing that 30cr will satisfy some Masters programs. Granted that it's a tougher row to hoe.

[dfrecore]

I saw them listed as Business Electives on Sanantone's lists.

The are electives for General Management, as there are different requirements for that degree. For Accounting, you can only do Accounting electives. So you need to find Intermediate Accounting I & II (which SL has) and then 4 additional accounting courses. There is 1 TECEP. After that, this is where CSU-Global comes in ($250 each). The only other way to get UL accounting courses is through LSU DL for $619 each.