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Online School For Accounting?
- Thread starter Petrov
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When I was on active duty, Uncle Sam paid for my bachelor’s degree. I went through Columbia College and had no issues at all. All in all a great experience. I think their per-unit prices have started creeping up, but you ain’t paying for it so no big deal.
esp if it's being paid for, i'd recommend you find an established and respected actual physical school for your degree. it's def a pita to work all day long then have to schlep downtown or wherever, or ditto on weekends, but the name on your degree does carry some weight.
when checking out schools for an accounting degree, ask them what recruitment efforts are made by the large public accounting firms, such as ernst & young, deloitte, etc. they don't recruit at the mediocre schools.
when checking out schools for an accounting degree, ask them what recruitment efforts are made by the large public accounting firms, such as ernst & young, deloitte, etc. they don't recruit at the mediocre schools.
Actual phyaical school is a no go, I just got divorced gotta take care of the house my dogs and work.
I am already doing the accountants job in my company so I am not too worried about how good the school looks on my resume, plus I already have a degree from a well respected University.
I am already doing the accountants job in my company so I am not too worried about how good the school looks on my resume, plus I already have a degree from a well respected University.
Penn State is the one I can speak of, and it’s an excellent online program and a well established and respected school (athletics excepted). I was doing infosec, not accounting, but the professors are all the same for on-site and online and run excellent courses. I had folks in my classes from all over the world, all loved the courses.
Online math is something that requires basic skills before you log on.
If you are comfortable with college algebra and can teach yourself with the aid of the internet, you will be just fine.
If your math skills end with the four basic symbols on your computer's calculator, I might suggest a brick and mortar approach.
I did an online AS in accounting when I was active duty before I realized that I hated working with numbers. Still, I was blessed with some ability to retain information, so survived the algebra and actual 'numbers crunching' courses without much trouble. Several of my friends failed the math stuff though.
Many ethics-related classes you can bullshit your way through...the Enron etc... case studies all kind of follow the same path. Hell, there are plenty of pay to play websites where kids all over put quiz information out there so you can copy and paste (plagiarize) your way through. You will be screwed on the exams though if you don't actually learn the concepts. I also suspect that the BS in accounting has at least one statistics course...no faking the funk on those.
I ended up going the BA in HRM route...after a career in the Marines, I had more stories than the books we had to learn from. I then went the MBA route, and found myself doing way more math than anything else...the last five classes of that was the longest stretch of my life.
Best of luck OP.
If you are comfortable with college algebra and can teach yourself with the aid of the internet, you will be just fine.
If your math skills end with the four basic symbols on your computer's calculator, I might suggest a brick and mortar approach.
I did an online AS in accounting when I was active duty before I realized that I hated working with numbers. Still, I was blessed with some ability to retain information, so survived the algebra and actual 'numbers crunching' courses without much trouble. Several of my friends failed the math stuff though.
Many ethics-related classes you can bullshit your way through...the Enron etc... case studies all kind of follow the same path. Hell, there are plenty of pay to play websites where kids all over put quiz information out there so you can copy and paste (plagiarize) your way through. You will be screwed on the exams though if you don't actually learn the concepts. I also suspect that the BS in accounting has at least one statistics course...no faking the funk on those.
I ended up going the BA in HRM route...after a career in the Marines, I had more stories than the books we had to learn from. I then went the MBA route, and found myself doing way more math than anything else...the last five classes of that was the longest stretch of my life.
Best of luck OP.
I'll 2nd Penn State and throw in Auburn and Old Dominion. I think it's great your employer is offering and you are taking them up on it. I hope to see you post up a pic of your diploma on here. Whatever time this takes away from the rest of your life is well worth it.
Arizona State University has an online program now. The online program is a BA vs a BS, but if you're not looking to go into public accounting, specifically Big 4, it won't make a difference. The same professors that teach in person classes developed and teach the online classes, although not all professors teach online.
You mentioned you already have a degree, so assuming it's some sort of business degree, I would look into a graduate program. Because of the CPA requirements, nearly every business school now has a specialized graduate program that's 1 year, and many schools are offering it online. Since you have the fundamentals down, you'll probably get more out of that than you will a bachelor's program (and it'll look better on your resume). I would look at the structure of the programs at Purdue, North Carolina, Auburn, Alabama, etc. and see which fits your schedule and budget the best. There are some smaller schools out there too that might be a little more budget friendly.
You mentioned you already have a degree, so assuming it's some sort of business degree, I would look into a graduate program. Because of the CPA requirements, nearly every business school now has a specialized graduate program that's 1 year, and many schools are offering it online. Since you have the fundamentals down, you'll probably get more out of that than you will a bachelor's program (and it'll look better on your resume). I would look at the structure of the programs at Purdue, North Carolina, Auburn, Alabama, etc. and see which fits your schedule and budget the best. There are some smaller schools out there too that might be a little more budget friendly.
Anyone of the major universities listed above would work. Accounting math is pretty straight forward and its the concepts that can be difficult to grasp. Once you get into intermediate accounting and above doing the assigments will consume a fair amount of time. There is just no way around it and you have to do the work to grasp the concepts. I have a MA in accounting and a CPA. After graduation I went to work for Peat Marwick then spent a few years as a controller for a consolidated group of construction companies. Although it was great training, I really didn't enjoy it and transitioned to the project and development management side of the business.
Both - prices typically aren’t that different, and the overall online learning platforms are much slicker with a “better” school. Also consider career services accessibility, even as an alumni for future connections. If you need your CPA I’d make sure the program sets you up for that. Ultimately I’d not go into major debt just to get a brand name, but if one school was only marginally more expensive but also a brand name I’d go for that. Also whatever your boss/CFO wants is really important. Comes down to personal preference - good luck with the decision!
There are some good replies already. Some of this depends on the direction you are going with it and where you are in your career.
If having a degree helps you move ahead in your company and you like it there then it may less important to your employer what the name behind the degree is and many state schools have excellent online programs. Don't underestimate community colleges for the some of the intial lower division debits and credits classes - I started there.
If you want to obtain your CPA license and work for a CPA firm its a little different. I'm an ex "Big 4" CPA and did a lot of interviewing / hiring of grads while with the firm. We would recruit from specific schools based on their reputation, our experience with previous grads, and quality of the business program. (Many smaller firms hire from area universities regardless.) While some were considered elite scholls we hired from state schools that had strong programs as well. Typically we would decide ahead of time how many offers we would make at each school and work with the business scholls to identiy top students and conduct interviews early in thei student senior year and get the offer out before graduation. If this is your path they talk to the school and see how many grads were placed with international, national, or regional firms. For a CPA license you will need to acutally work for a CPA firm for a period of time (usually 2 years) in which you document experince in a variety of areas mostly surounding financial reporting and audits. (CPA license requirements do vary a bit by state.) Sometimes this takes more than a couple of years - I liked it and stuck around for over 7 years. I went to a state school but once I was looked as a "Big 4 CPA" no one cared what my school was - it was all about the firm and opened many doors. Keep in mind that the CPA license is not needed to be successful in industry. Larger companies may want a CPA license when hiring for senior positions but there are many options for success without that designation.
