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+--- Thread: Advice for Business Degree in Finance (/Thread-Advice-for-Business-Degree-in-Finance)
Advice for Business Degree in Finance - Brent0803 - 12-05-2025
Hello everyone,
I want to start off by saying that I found this forum the other day when looking into getting a college degree online. After reading through many threads, I can say that this is truly a remarkable community. Many are here only to help others which is very admirable and selfless. I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I feel it is essential to give as many details about myself as I can to obtain the best guidance possible.
I did quite a bit of research using this forum, and I have to admit the amount of information is quite overwhelming. I am hoping this community can help point me in the right direction to pursue a Business Degree in Finance. This is something I have put off for quite a while after I became successful in my career, but now it is something I want to accomplish. My ultimate goal is to obtain my MBA, but first things first.
To start I will give some of my professional experience as I have read that this can be applied toward college credits in certain situations. I have been in the banking industry for 25 years. I have held a multitude of positions beginning my career as a teller until today where my title is SVP - Director of ACH Operations at a large regional bank. I am unsure if any of my professional experience could be applied toward a finance degree, but it would be great if possible. I also read that professional certifications could potentially be applied toward college credits as well. I currently have my Certified Treasury Professional (CTP), Accredited ACH Professional (AAP), and Accredited Payments Risk Professional (APRP) certifications. I am also preparing to take the Accredited Faster Payments Professional (AFPP) exam in February. I expect to obtain that one as well because I believe in over preparing for these types of certification exams because you can only take them one time a year.
I went to a community college briefly in 2006/2007 and below are the classes I completed. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I had a 4.0 GPA.
ENGL 1301; PSYC 2301; ITSC 1401; MATH 0308; MATH 0310; MATH 1314; SPCH 1311; ENGL 1302
Addendum & Template (answer in brief, compact, concise phrases - don't need long sentences):
Your Location: Houston, TX
Your Age: 46
What kind of degree do you want?: Finance
Current Regional Accredited Credits: My transcript says 25 credits, but I am not sure if all apply based on the courses listed above
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: I tried to find information on this but wasn't very successful in deciphering everything
Any certifications or military experience?: Yes, CTP, AAP, APRP, and soon to be AFPP certifications
Budget: I don't necessarily have a budget, but the less I would have to pay the better (obviously). However, if I need to pay a little more to complete it faster I will
Commitments: Job and Family
Dedicated time to study: Depending on the week 10-20 hours, so probably an average of 15 hours weekly
Timeline: I would like to start in March of 2026
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: I will not need tuition assistance
I appreciate anyone who looks at this and welcome any advice.
Thanks,
Brent
RE: Advice for Business Degree in Finance - ss20ts - 12-05-2025
What are the courses you listed. ENGL1301 is meaningless to us. Every college has their own course numbers and sometimes they change them just to add to the confusion.
RE: Advice for Business Degree in Finance - bjcheung77 - 12-07-2025
Welcome to the board, you may want to see if a general Business, Organizational Leadership, Management degree is better for you than the Finance degree. You can later ladder to a masters such as the MBA or another, with a graduate certificate in Finance, or even a concentration in Finance later.
Since you're in TX, ETAMU and their CBE options would be your first recommendation. You can also take a look at the various UMPI YourPace options as your second choice. You can then take a look at WGU and/TESU and their BSBA offerings, as both of them have Finance as a concentration...
RE: Advice for Business Degree in Finance - LevelUP - 12-07-2025
TESU will likely be the cheapest and fastest option. They offer a Business Administration degree with a concentration in Finance.
SNHU also has a Finance degree program.
Here are some degree plans we have, though you can choose other colleges that are alt-credit-friendly.
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Degree_Plans