AACSB/AACSB/IACBE + CLEPs/DSSTs: Can these two work together?

[OfficerA]

Good evening all,

With my CCAF out of the way my next course of action is to pursue a bachelor's in Business Administration, with an ultimate goal of commissioning in the USAF within the next couple of years.

The more research I've done as of late, however, the more concerned I grow with the fact that the better business programs ideally should have either AACSB, AACSB, or IACBE (according to various comments I've read from different forums).

As a military member who wants to accelerate his education and get things done and out of the way ASAP (with a current goal of commissioning), are there any "properly" accredited business programs out there, preferably one online, that can also accept most if not all of my CLEPs/DSSTs as of late? At this point I'm genuinely terrified of continuing on my education, if the path I'm going down is one that won't really matter in the civilian world when I eventually return to it (later rather than sooner, preferably).

I understand "any" degree is better than no degree, but I've already put off my education in years and now that I can focus on it, even if only half-time, I'd rather not waste time. This is also part of my hesitation with jumping on the "Big 3" schools that we have a dedicated forum for, as none of them seem to have any of the accreditation for their business programs that I noted above.

Or for a different discussion; do these specific program accreditations even matter?

Thanks for any input. This place has been incredibly valuable, and any help would be appreciated.

[sanantone]

I think Excelsior is IACBE accredited. Programmatic accreditation in business is not important in most cases. It's really only important for those planning to become professors. Some highly ranked or programmatically accredited graduate programs in business might require a little more from you if your bachelor's degree came from a school without programmatic accreditation. In the private sector (and public sector to a lesser extent), the ranking and reputation of the school is most important. The best business schools just happen to be AACSB accredited. If you really want programmatic accreditation, AACSB is first, ACBSP is a distant second, and IACBE is a very distant third. IACBE hasn't even been recognized by CHEA for very long. Just in case it needs some explaining, 99% of the time, an accrediting body is not considered valid unless it's recognized by CHEA and/or the U.S. Department of Education. For those who want to become certified public accountants, a few states make the process a little easier for those with AACSB and ACBSP accredited degrees. I don't know if those states have since included IACBE after its recognition by CHEA.

Pretty much only research universities qualify for AACSB accreditation. Traditional teaching colleges and for-profits with mostly an online presence tend to go after ACBSP accreditation. A lot of smaller state universities go after this. IACBE tends to accredit some very non-traditional and obscure colleges that don't even qualify to be ranked by U.S. News. Looking at the lists for ACBSP and IACBE, it looks like the large, regionally accredited for-profits go after ACBSP. The small, nationally accredited for-profits go after IACBE. As far as accreditation for the whole college (institutional accreditation), it is almost always better to attend a regionally accredited college. That is the first thing you should look for. Some government agencies won't even recognize nationally accredited degrees. I would say that getting a business degree from a regionally accredited college without programmatic accreditation for business would be much better than getting one from a nationally accredited college with IACBE accreditation.

Take a look at these lists. AACSB has accredited some non-prestigious schools, but the most prestigious schools are more likely to be accredited by them. ACBSP has some okay schools. They won't wow anyone, but they are acceptable (with the exception of schools like Devry). IACBE accredits schools that are pretty much unknown. No employer is going to be impressed by them. The employer might not even know what IACBE is.
https://www.aacsb.net/eweb/DynamicPage.a...=AccredSch
https://www.aacsb.net/eweb/DynamicPage.a...d9fb9c7233
http://www.acbsp.org/?page=accredited_members
http://www.iacbe.org/results.asp

[OfficerA]

Thanks for the input sanantone.

I've got a friend who's going through University of Phoenix now; he's been in for 5 years now, just recently put on SSgt, and is pursuing something business related as well, with the same goal of commissioning. While I haven't checked how credits will transfer to them yet, according to him when he was planning on Nursing before very few of his credits transferred over, and apparently none of the subjects he took CLEP/DSST for were accepted.

I'm still going to go through and research other schools at this time, and my DO, who's prior enlisted, has stated that he is willing to help me accomplish my goal. I guess for me what's really driving me to find answers to this is that I don't simply want "any" degree for the purposes of commissioning; right now I'd prefer one that would benefit not only my job in the USAF, but my goals if/when I decide to return to the civilian sector. If any degree can work though, I might just commission first and worry about such things at a later date.

All I'm really aiming for now is for myself to continue going to school and/or knocking out credit via CLEP/DSST, especially if they're free. I guess it'd be nice to maximize them in my pursuit of a degree that not only interests me, but will also benefit my current job/future career and my civilian life when I take off the uniform for good.

Thanks again, and everyone is still welcome to chime in.

[rebel100]

I think your making too much of this at the bachelors level. You can get into an AACSB or ACBSP grad program with an undergrad from a regionally accredited school.

It just isn't thast big a deal for undergrad, I doubt the vast majority of potential employers will even know tge difference.

You might be sure to include tge varios prereqs like accounting, finance, marketing, etc.... Getting those done from an RA school will make the grad school transition much simpler.

[sanantone]

Thanks for the input sanantone.

I've got a friend who's going through University of Phoenix now; he's been in for 5 years now, just recently put on SSgt, and is pursuing something business related as well, with the same goal of commissioning. While I haven't checked how credits will transfer to them yet, according to him when he was planning on Nursing before very few of his credits transferred over, and apparently none of the subjects he took CLEP/DSST for were accepted.

I'm still going to go through and research other schools at this time, and my DO, who's prior enlisted, has stated that he is willing to help me accomplish my goal. I guess for me what's really driving me to find answers to this is that I don't simply want "any" degree for the purposes of commissioning; right now I'd prefer one that would benefit not only my job in the USAF, but my goals if/when I decide to return to the civilian sector. If any degree can work though, I might just commission first and worry about such things at a later date.

All I'm really aiming for now is for myself to continue going to school and/or knocking out credit via CLEP/DSST, especially if they're free. I guess it'd be nice to maximize them in my pursuit of a degree that not only interests me, but will also benefit my current job/future career and my civilian life when I take off the uniform for good.

Thanks again, and everyone is still welcome to chime in.

DO NOT ATTEND UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX!!! That is probably one of the worst schools you can attend. Almost everyone has heard of University of Phoenix, which is not a good thing because it has a horrible reputation. Along with that horrible reputation comes expensive tuition rates. I guess the military might be covering all or part of the tuition, but still avoid UoP at all costs.

[rebel100]

Oh, and rather or not a particular grad school will accept Clep for prereqs is entirely up to the individual school, most will likely be ok with it, others will allow some, and a few won't let you use it...but it varies. There is little doubt that there are good schools that will take you with a big 3 BS/BA.

[sanantone]

There are also AACSB, ACBSP, and IACBE programs that accept CLEP/DSST at the undergraduate level.

[OfficerA]

Thanks again all.

I can at least say with confidence that my current school is regionally accredited. What I'd like to know more about are online schools that can accept any of the accreditations we've discussed so far. UoP has ACBSP, but considering how my friend is deep in student loan debts on top of his TA being maxed out, I'd rather not go down that route.

I found Ashford University which has IACBE accreditation. What I like is that they're upfront about what transfers, and what doesn't as well as communicating well that they will accept CLEPs/DSSTs; the biggest thing with them is that I believe a certain amount of credits has to be accomplished in-residence, which is a given for other universities as well, although the big three only really has the capstone with them. Otherwise, they are available online. Also, their per credit tuition is right up there with TA's maximum coverage, which means other than the initial enrollment fees, it looks like everything else TA will cover.

Are there practical online schools out there that are a) accredited and b) will accept said credits, like you mentioned sanantone?

I'm no longer seeking one for the undergraduate level; I'd just like to narrow down my research and decide if it's something I may want to do down the line, depending on how much it will matter for commissioning into the field(s) I want (including input from my leadership).

Thanks again all.

[sanantone]

First thing, you shouldn't just be searching for online schools. Actually, regionally accredited (I'm using RA from now on) online schools are rare. Schools like Ashford, UoP, Devry, and Kaplan have campuses and some existed before online degrees even existed. What you should be searching for are colleges with online programs. There are thousands of brick and mortar colleges with online programs. Don't just limit yourself to for-profits with bad reputations. There are many traditional schools you can attend. It still sounds like you're hung up on programmatic accreditation. I'll just put it bluntly. ACBSP and IACBE accreditation are going to do nothing for you. Employers can't tell the difference between Podunk State U with programmatic accreditation and Backwoods State U without programmatic accreditation. Unless it's a top university or a nearby college with a decent reputation in the area, employers only care about regional accreditation. Sometimes, they don't even know the difference between regional and national accreditation, but you still want RA for graduate school and some potential state/local government jobs. If you can, avoid for-profit colleges altogether. The only large one that still has a somewhat decent reputation is the American Public University System (includes American Military University). With or without programmatic accreditation, all of the Big 3 schools will hurt you less in the private sector than a degree from UoP, Ashford, Devry, Kaplan, Strayer, Walden, Capella, and the like. The Big 3 have pretty much no reputation in the private sector while the for-profits I listed have poor reputations (most of them are also expensive). Some employers will even go as far as automatically chunking in the trash any resumes or applications with for-profit colleges listed. Ask Rebel100 what he thinks about UoP and schools like it.

This is a good place to start to look for affordable online programs in business. If you click on the school, it'll give you more information about institutional and programmatic accreditation and tax status (public, private non-profit, and private for-profit).
Best Business Degree Online

All of these MBA programs are AACSB accredited.
http://www.geteducated.com/online-colleg...-mba-aacsb

Thousands of schools accept CLEP/DSST. A lot of them also give credit for military training and accept the CCAF in full for completion of the general education requirements. Besides the Big 3, almost every college has at least a 25% residency requirement. For schools on the semester hour system, that means you usually have to complete at least 30 credits in residence. Many schools also limit CLEP/DSST and other non-traditional credits to 30-60 credits. Ashford has a 75 credit limit from non-traditional sources. APUS limits non-traditional credits to 25% of the degree or 30 credits for bachelor's programs.

[sanantone]

I conducted a nationwide search for job ads that mention IACBE, ACBSP, or AACSB.

IACBE
2 pages of results
All of the jobs were in higher education.
Iacbe Jobs, Employment | Indeed.com

ACBSP
6 pages of results
Only one job outside of higher education mentioned it, and it was for the federal government.
Acbsp Jobs, Employment | Indeed.com
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/355628800

AACSB
57 pages of results.
More than 95% of the jobs were in higher education. A lot of the non-academic jobs were for one company: Chrysler.
Aacsb Jobs, Employment | Indeed.com
Senior Global Buyer - Tires & Rubber Job in Auburn Hills, MI at Chrysler
Senior Buyer - Electric Vehicle Powertrain Job in Auburn Hills, MI at Chrysler
Station Casinos
https://www.cisco.apply2jobs.com/ProfExt...5&sid=1400
1 Opening For 1517 - Advance Supplier Quality Engineer Position at Auburn Hills Michigan Location
The Walt Disney Company Home | Jobs and Careers
Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations | Ann Arbor Public Schools Job | K12 Jobspot
MarketShare Careers - Project Manager - PMO (PMP)
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/355628800
Health Care Administration Jobs: Navy.com
Bank of America Careers: 2014 MBA Fellowship Program : 1300064989
Powertrain Virtual Analysis Program Lead (Transmissions & Driveline) Job in Auburn Hills, MI at Chrysler
https://www.jobscore.com/jobs/marketshar...ID=1369919
Buyer Job in Auburn Hills, MI at Chrysler
Candidate Section
Purchasing and Supplier Quality Leadership Development Program (LDP) in Auburn Hills, MI at Chrysler