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Why pursue a degree from a AACSB school?
#1
Hi all,

I've posted before about how I don't know what I want to do post-bachelors as far as grad school. I was seriously thinking about psych, but I am not sure of the career opportunities given that I've never worked in that field. It just makes me feel insecure even though the subject matter is interesting to me.

I've been looking through Indeed.com for the past few months, and there are a TON of full time accounting professor jobs where the minimum education is a masters. I've even seen a few of these that were tenure track. A few want an AACSB degree, but many don't mention that particular accreditation. I was accepted into UIUC's program, which is AACSB. It makes me feel really good because it is a well respected program, but it is almost $30K and will take at least 18 months. They do provide a lot of networking opportunities, and they also provide TA opportunities for second year students who are doing well. That works for me, given the goal to teach. If I did this degree, I could apply to more schools. But I am intrigued by WGU's program, since it is cheaper and I could get through it faster. I could see myself needing two terms, because I work full time. It doesn't have any business accreditation though.

Overall, I am leaning towards UIUC but wanted to know your thoughts. There is a lot of wisdom here! Thanks.

Edited to add: I am way behind in my retirement savings, so another reason the teaching jobs are appealing is that they have great retirement benefits.
BSBA/Accounting TESU (2016). MSA UIUC (2018).

Need help with portfolios? I earned 18 credits at TESU through portfolio evaluations. Nine of those were for upper level accounting courses. My advice for PLA/portfolios: TESU portfolio tips The first post has the Portfolio Checklist I created. Page ten has the actual narrative I wrote to receive credit for ACC-440.

Using Straighterline's Financial Accounting as a substitute for TESU's Intermediate Accounting I? Don't do it if you are an accounting major and/or want your CPA license. They are not the same course and I think TESU has erred in accepting the SL course as Intermediate I. I made this discovery here: Intermediate Accounting II.
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#2
The only benefit of AACSB, ACBSP and the smaller IACBE is programmatic or secondary accreditation in addition to the regional accreditation that the school already has.
You can say it's "more recognized", but other than that, there's not much of a benefit. For employers and for personal preference, the more recognition the better obviously.
But essentially, these secondary accreditation are just complementary to the regional accreditation that the school already has. I had a similar decision to make earlier, my choice was the cheaper one.
In Progress: Walden MBA | TESU BA Biology & Computer Science
Graduate Certificate: Global Management & Entrepreneurship, ASU (Freebie)

Completed: TESU ASNSM Biology, BSBA (ACBSP Accredited 2017)
Universidad Isabel I: ENEB MBA, Big Data & BI, Digital Marketing & E-Commerce
Certs: 6Sigma/Lean/Scrum, ITIL | Cisco/CompTIA/MTA | Coursera/Edx/Udacity

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#3
tesu-acct-student Wrote:I was accepted into UIUC's program, which is AACSB. It makes me feel really good because it is a well respected program, but it is almost $30K and will take at least 18 months. They do provide a lot of networking opportunities, and they also provide TA opportunities for second year students who are doing well. That works for me, given the goal to teach. If I did this degree, I could apply to more schools. But I am intrigued by WGU's program, since it is cheaper and I could get through it faster. I could see myself needing two terms, because I work full time. It doesn't have any business accreditation though.

Overall, I am leaning towards UIUC but wanted to know your thoughts.

The TA opportunities and networking opportunities seem worth it.

But you might consider something in between those two options. Something like doing the quick, cheap program but then doing a graduate certificate or internship.

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#4
For secondary work experience - or just getting started in the field - internship is a great way!
However, I would refrain from going for a grad cert, most if not all are going to be as expensive as a Patten/WGU MBA.
If I were in the OP's shoes, I would go straight up for a Masters at WGU or whichever one they choose.
In Progress: Walden MBA | TESU BA Biology & Computer Science
Graduate Certificate: Global Management & Entrepreneurship, ASU (Freebie)

Completed: TESU ASNSM Biology, BSBA (ACBSP Accredited 2017)
Universidad Isabel I: ENEB MBA, Big Data & BI, Digital Marketing & E-Commerce
Certs: 6Sigma/Lean/Scrum, ITIL | Cisco/CompTIA/MTA | Coursera/Edx/Udacity

The Basic Approach | Plans | DegreeForum Community Supported Wiki
~Note~ Read/Review forum posts & Wiki Links to Sample Degree Plans
Degree Planning Advice | New To DegreeForum? How This Area Works

[Image: e7P9EJ4.jpeg]
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#5
You may also want to look into the bios of the accounting professors (also at non-AACSB programs). Did they get their highest degree from a program that is AACSB? Do they also have a CPA or even a CMA license? Are programs accredited by AACSB also required to have faculty with terminal or otehr graduate level degrees from AACSB programs? And, yes, there is an obvious overlap between AACSB and the prestige of the school (with the prestige coming first in pretty much all instances).
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#6
Some federal jobs require AACBS or ACBSP accreditation, but you may not care about that.
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DSST
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#7
Just wanted to thank everybody for their contributions here. I am almost half-way through the UIUC program. Am very glad I did it. The networking has been great, and I was selected to be a TA for the fall in the graduate-level individual tax course. I also picked up a bookkeeping side job from a fellow student (an econ phd who wants to teach accounting but doesn't know quickbooks) so that's been nice since I'm not working right now.

Everybody has their priorities. The WGU program is a great choice for many people. I'm glad I went the route I did, given my goal to teach. Thanks again. Very glad for these forums because I doubt I'd even be done with my bachelors without them.  Heart
BSBA/Accounting TESU (2016). MSA UIUC (2018).

Need help with portfolios? I earned 18 credits at TESU through portfolio evaluations. Nine of those were for upper level accounting courses. My advice for PLA/portfolios: TESU portfolio tips The first post has the Portfolio Checklist I created. Page ten has the actual narrative I wrote to receive credit for ACC-440.

Using Straighterline's Financial Accounting as a substitute for TESU's Intermediate Accounting I? Don't do it if you are an accounting major and/or want your CPA license. They are not the same course and I think TESU has erred in accepting the SL course as Intermediate I. I made this discovery here: Intermediate Accounting II.
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#8
The degree itself is first, then the AACSB can be useful to show that you went to a good school, and even more useful for networking.

What I mean by the degree being first is really just whether you're choosing a program that will match what you want to do. An MBA is pretty much always useful. I chose the "Bilingual Global MBA with a focus on emerging markets" because I really wanted an international degree, but you just don't see the demand for those, even in international positions. So I wanted the "MBA" part of it to look good, even though my schools were not AACSB accredited. But I have found that there is a real WOW factor with my degree since it's so unique. If I didn't have a wow factor, I would have to make a decision on saving money or going for the degree that will network better.

I spent 36k on my MBA and I got 100% ROI on it in the first year after graduating. I made the right choice for ME. My philosophy is don't spend money on the undergrad, but if you are going to spend money, let it be in grad school, because that's where employers will really look.

Overall, if you can afford it, spend the money on the MBA if you're in a field where networking matters. Or if you anticipate that you'll need to use the alumni programs your school has.

If you think money will be tight and see yourself in a solid place for the foreseeable future, or are just really well-established in your career, I would probably save the money and go for WGU. Remember, that there are plenty of people that have NO MBA and are extremely successful. Don't break the bank. Alternatively remember that there are people who truly would not have made it without a good name behind their MBA. Which type of person are you? Smile
Regis University, ITESO, Global MBA with a focus in Emerging Markets 4.0 GPA, Dual-university degree (Spanish/English) 
COSC BS, Business Admin

My BS Credits:
Spanish 80 | Humanities 67 | A & I Lit 72 | Sub Abuse 452 | Bus Ethics 445 | Tech Writ 62 | Math 53 | HTYH 454 | Am. Govt 65 | Env & Humanity 64 | Marketing 65 | Micro 61| Mgmt 63| Org Behavior 65| MIS 446|Computing 432 | BL II 61 | M&B 50 | Finance 411 | Supervision 437| Intro Bus. 439| Law Enforcement 63|  SL: Accounting I B | Accounting II C+| Macro A | ECE: Labor Relations A | Capstone: A| FEMA PDS Cert 
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#9
(04-07-2018, 01:15 PM)burbuja0512 Wrote: I spent 36k on my MBA and I got 100% ROI on it in the first year after graduating.   

?  Smile

Did you get a job making $36k or a $36k increase in pay for the MBA?
Non-Traditional Undergraduate College Credits (634 SH): *FTCC Noncourse Credits (156 SH) *DSST (78 SH) *CPL (64 SH) *JST Military/ACE (48 SH) *CBA (44 SH) *CLEP (42 SH) *FEMA IS (40 SH) *FEMA EM (38 SH) *ECE/UExcel (30 SH) *PLA Portfolio (28 SH) *EMI/ACE (19 SH) *TEEX/ACE (16 SH) *CWE (11 SH) *NFA/ACE (10 SH) *Kaplan/ACE (3 SH) *CPC (2 SH) *AICP/ACE (2 SH) *Sophia/ACE (2 SH) and *FRTI-UM/ACE (1 SH).
Non-Traditional Graduate College Credits (14 SH): AMU (6 SH); NFHS (5 SH); and JSU (3 SH).
 





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#10
(04-07-2018, 01:53 PM)Life Long Learning Wrote:
(04-07-2018, 01:15 PM)burbuja0512 Wrote: I spent 36k on my MBA and I got 100% ROI on it in the first year after graduating.   

?  Smile

Did you get a job making $36k or a $36k increase in pay for the MBA?


Ok here is how I did it and I think it's very possible for almost anyone with the right employer.   In my case, the right employer was a small and flexible business and my raise ended up being a little more than the 36k spent on the MBA.

1) I let management/owners know that I was getting an international MBA and that I'd like to work more with int'l clients.   Since I had already been doing this to some extent, it was simple.  And my management was super cool and wanted to encourage my interests.

2) I seized an opportunity when some key Brazilians refused to work with us.  I approached them and promised that I would learn Portuguese if they would work with us.  (I knew they hated working in English)   So, I had 6 months to learn Portuguese while I was studying.    But I already speak Spanish, so I had an advantage and I worked my TAIL off.  The ensuing success with the very impressed Brazilian team pretty much secured my place in international accounts.

3) Additionally, Instead of the nominal pay increase that I would get at year-end, I negotiated a title increase instead.. for two straight years.   When I started at the company, I was a Sales Director.   When I left, I was VP of Global Sales.   I sacrificed a few thousand dollars a year for this, but nothing is better than a VP title.

4) When I graduated and was ready to leave my small company, I was now a VP of Global Sales with years of international experience and three languages under my belt.   The starting pay for a VP of Global Sales is a helluva lot more than your run of the mill sales director, and my next job was at the VP level. (Happy to share my LinkedIn to anyone who wants to network)


..So you can say it definitely wasn't just the degree, and this is one of the reasons that I can get so annoying in my posts about not just waiting for the degree to be the silver bullet.  There is so much more that goes into it and we often get so focused on just the paper, but it's more a matter of leveraging the studies from day 1 to make the move you want.  Smile
Regis University, ITESO, Global MBA with a focus in Emerging Markets 4.0 GPA, Dual-university degree (Spanish/English) 
COSC BS, Business Admin

My BS Credits:
Spanish 80 | Humanities 67 | A & I Lit 72 | Sub Abuse 452 | Bus Ethics 445 | Tech Writ 62 | Math 53 | HTYH 454 | Am. Govt 65 | Env & Humanity 64 | Marketing 65 | Micro 61| Mgmt 63| Org Behavior 65| MIS 446|Computing 432 | BL II 61 | M&B 50 | Finance 411 | Supervision 437| Intro Bus. 439| Law Enforcement 63|  SL: Accounting I B | Accounting II C+| Macro A | ECE: Labor Relations A | Capstone: A| FEMA PDS Cert 
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