Accounting Degree Plans - WGU vs UMPI?

[cayek1099]

Your Location: Tampa, FL
Your Age: 45
What kind of degree do you want?: Bachelor's and possibly eventually a Master's.
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 70 - AA in Accounting from Palm Beach State College.
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: None, but I plan on going through Study/Sophia depending on the degree plan chosen.
Any certifications or military experience?: No.
Budget: 12k-16k
Commitments: I work full-time, business hours. Weekends free. I am married, so I'll need to balance studying with nurturing my marriage. 
Dedicated time to study: Evenings and weekends.
Timeline: ASAP, but I'm realistic about how much I can comfortably complete in a session/semester.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: None

I have 29 years of accounting/ 23 years of managerial experience and I want to increase my employability with a bachelor's degree.  I've put together 3 different degree plans featuring WGU/UMPI.  Based on cost alone, the BS in Accounting from WGU is equal to the BABA in Accounting from UMPI though WGU will take me 3 sessions/1.5 years and UMPI will take 7 sessions/56 weeks. 

It's been 25 year since I've been in college so I'm looking for the "easiest" path toward my bachelor's.  I don't have time to muck about and fail so I'll be dedicated to studying/working, but if anyone has any insight on which might be the "best" path forward, I'll take your feelings/judgement into account 100%!

WGU Cons: I'm worried about what master's programs I'll be able to transfer my degree to in the future if I decide not to continue at WGU for MAcc.

UMPI Cons: I'm not thrilled about having to revisit Spanish I and some other Gen Eds even if I'm doing it through Sophia/Study.  (Spanish was a pre-requisite to getting INTO the community college so I took 2 years of Spanish in High School just to qualify to attend.)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing

Thank you in advance for reading and weighing in!

Caye

[LevelUP]

Your Location: Tampa, FL
Your Age: 45
What kind of degree do you want?: Bachelor's and possibly eventually a Master's.
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 70 - AA in Accounting from Palm Beach State College.
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: None, but I plan on going through Study/Sophia depending on the degree plan chosen.
Any certifications or military experience?: No.
Budget: 12k-16k
Commitments: I work full-time, business hours. Weekends free. I am married, so I'll need to balance studying with nurturing my marriage. 
Dedicated time to study: Evenings and weekends.
Timeline: ASAP, but I'm realistic about how much I can comfortably complete in a session/semester.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: None

I have 29 years of accounting/ 23 years of managerial experience and I want to increase my employability with a bachelor's degree.  I've put together 3 different degree plans featuring WGU/UMPI.  Based on cost alone, the BS in Accounting from WGU is equal to the BABA in Accounting from UMPI though WGU will take me 3 sessions/1.5 years and UMPI will take 7 sessions/56 weeks. 

It's been 25 year since I've been in college so I'm looking for the "easiest" path toward my bachelor's.  I don't have time to muck about and fail so I'll be dedicated to studying/working, but if anyone has any insight on which might be the "best" path forward, I'll take your feelings/judgement into account 100%!

WGU Cons: I'm worried about what master's programs I'll be able to transfer my degree to in the future if I decide not to continue at WGU for MAcc.

UMPI Cons: I'm not thrilled about having to revisit Spanish I and some other Gen Eds even if I'm doing it through Sophia/Study.  (Spanish was a pre-requisite to getting INTO the community college so I took 2 years of Spanish in High School just to qualify to attend.)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing

Thank you in advance for reading and weighing in!

Caye

WGU and UMPI are solid CBE options if you have a busy life. TESU, especially if you choose the flat-rate term, requires committing to hard deadlines over a three-month period, which can be more demanding.

WGU degrees are typically evaluated at around a B average, so they transfer well into many master’s programs. We have even had WGU graduates accepted into selective schools such as Georgia Tech. One downside to WGU is that they may not accept some transfer credits older than five years.

If you can consistently put in about 10 hours per week, completing UMPI in two to three terms is very realistic. Four terms would be on the high end, and it is unlikely to take anywhere near seven terms unless you are taking extended breaks with little or no progress. For WGU, completing the program in one to two terms is possible if you maximize transfer credits.

If you are learning Spanish from scratch, it can definitely be a mind-bending experience. That said, since you already have two years of high school Spanish, completing Spanish through Sophia should be fairly straightforward. We have also had students with zero Spanish experience complete Sophia’s Spanish course without too many problems. If you can comfortably hear and understand spoken Spanish, you could also consider attempting the CLEP exam.

One of the biggest advantages of the degree-hacking approach discussed here on DegreeForum is that once you have completed the maximum allowable transfer credits for your target school, you are setting yourself up for a 90 percent or higher chance of success. If you decide WGU is not the right fit, you can usually pivot to another option like UMPI or TESU without losing much ground.

To start, the process is relatively low stress. Most alternative credit courses only require a C, or 70 percent, to pass, and those grades do not appear on your final college transcript. This helps you get comfortable with the workload, writing expectations, and time management while risking very little money. By the time you officially enroll and the grades count, you are already well prepared and positioned for success.

Given your 29 years of accounting experience and 23 years in management, you are well positioned to move quickly through CBE coursework, especially at WGU or UMPI.

[logic]

Since you have an AA maybe WGU would accept all your credits? I have no idea, but that's what their website claims they'll do. I think UMPI will exempt you from all of the gen-ed classes since you have an AA. I'm not sure if that includes the spanish class, but it would only take you 3 weeks to do spanish on sophia it's very easy. Also since your AA was in accounting, you might be exempted from taking some of the accounting classes at UMPI.

If you already know the material then WGU classes are faster, since you can test out of it instantly. On the other hand, you can probably transfer a lot of your existing classes to UMPI so you could take an entirely different set of classes which might apply toward a masters. You need to meet residency requirements of 10 classes at UMPI, and WGU requires 12 at a minimum. So it's about even on that front.

All of UMPI's classes involve writing long research papers, whereas WGU only requires pass/fail tests and you can test out instantly from a class without ever looking at the course materials if you're an expert in it. The whole advantage of WGU is that it uses competency tests like that. You could maybe do something similar at UMPI with a clep exam or asking for a skill evaluation.

[bjcheung77]

You're not going to learn everything from either of these institutions, there is just too much. I would recommend doing a one and done solution though, WGU BS Accounting & WGU MS Accounting. Or you can switch it up, UMPI BA Accounting and WGU MS Accounting. Make sure you hit all the requirements for the state and also CPA, etc. Note, going the UMPI route allows you to throw in the AALS, WGU doesn't have associates degrees...

[ss20ts]

Since you have an AA maybe WGU would accept all your credits? I have no idea, but that's what their website claims they'll do. I think UMPI will exempt you from all of the gen-ed classes since you have an AA. I'm not sure if that includes the spanish class, but it would only take you 3 weeks to do spanish on sophia it's very easy. Also since your AA was in accounting, you might be exempted from taking some of the accounting classes at UMPI.

If you already know the material then WGU classes are faster, since you can test out of it instantly. On the other hand, you can probably transfer a lot of your existing classes to UMPI so you could take an entirely different set of classes which might apply toward a masters. You need to meet residency requirements of 10 classes at UMPI, and WGU requires 12 at a minimum. So it's about even on that front.

All of UMPI's classes involve writing long research papers, whereas WGU only requires pass/fail tests and you can test out instantly from a class without ever looking at the course materials if you're an expert in it. The whole advantage of WGU is that it uses competency tests like that. You could maybe do something similar at UMPI with a clep exam or asking for a skill evaluation.

UMPI does not waive the GEC requirements for those holding an associate degree. No one is exempted from anything. Credit transfers to meet requirements. All of UMPI's classes do not involve writing long research papers. Some classes - especially accounting - are projects.

[cayek1099]

I reached out to "Enrollment" at WGU and asked if my AA in Accounting from 2000 would still be transferrable/apply to WGU and got the following response:

Absolutely, provided your school is accredited, your AA in Accounting does not expire, so it usually satisfies all of your general education classes for “most programs” with WGU. 


So Yay!  It looks like I'll be applying to WGU once I finish my Study.com and Sophia.org courses.  Just one test left at Sophia and then four courses at Study.com to go!

[bjcheung77]

Yes, get them completed first (all your classes required for transfer, make sure to max them all by reviewing the partner guides). Once you have done the max that can be transferred over, you can focus solely on the remaining requirements that can't be transferred in! Here's the partnership webpage for national agreements: Study.com, Sophia.org, StraighterLine, etc, should be on the list... https://partners.wgu.edu/home

[Mint Berry Crunch]

I concur with LevelUP -- UMPI and WGU are going to be the best options for you. BJ is also right; knock out the remaining courses with Sophia and Study.com. You already have an associates, so that does wipe away a good chunk of classes whether you did them or not at WGU, plus, maybe some of the accounting courses you did with your associates might wipe away some of the needed accounting courses there. But, WGU does have a set of classes that need to be completed there. In your case, I would recommend UMPI for ease of transfer credits.