Looking for an accounting degree...

[sarg123]

I was looking around for an accounting degree, or classes, online, and I found an accounting degree at Peru State University. The price is really good, they have generous transfer policies, and they even offer scholarships for transfer students, I think. My question is - why is this option not mentioned anywhere? Is there a problem that I am missing?

To provide some background information - I took off some time from work to stay home with my kids, and when my youngest turned two, I realized that I didn't want to go back to what I was doing before, so I decided to start school - for the first time - and I actually started from scratch just two years ago through my local CC. I got an AS degree in two years - using a generous amount of CLEPS - which is also where I found instantcert. I was really excited to have reached that milestone, however, I now find myself at a dead end. My original goal was to get an accounting degree that will eventually allow me to sit for the CPA, and I'm still hoping to do that, but it seems a lot harder than I had originally thought.

Right now, I'm traveling over an hour each way for upper level accounting classes at a four year college "near" me. First of all, if I continue at this pace, maybe I'll finish by the time I'm sixty, but another real problem is that the teachers are really really not great. I like the idea of sitting in a classroom as opposed to learning this stuff online, but I see that since I'm teaching all this to myself anyway, I might as well do it from home, which is why I'm looking into online options.

I've been "lurking" around this site for the past two months, and I've got an awful lot of interesting information, but at the end of the day, my feeling is that I should aim for letter grades in accounting courses, hence the search for online classes...

Peru seems to have a decent accounting program, with all the right courses, and they also seem very affordable, especially as I would be eligible for Pell grants, and possibly scholarships. It does seem like a very small college however, and I can get almost no feedback online, anywhere. What am I missing here?

Thanks.

[dfrecore]

If you're asking why this forum doesn't really go into getting a specific degree from a specific college, the answer is that no one on here could possibly know of every single college in every single state and every single program that they offer, with all of the ins and outs that each school has. Plus, you're really just asking about getting a traditional 4-yr degree (with a few CLEP exams) from a traditional college.

Usually on this forum, we are looking for something non-traditional. Many of us have gone the traditional route and it hasn't worked for us. Or it's going to take too long or be too expensive.

Hence, the Big 3, WGU and competency-based schools, etc. And lots and lots of ACE credit.

[johnjaxs]

Plus that school you mentioned has a pretty basic transfer policy. 90 credits can be transferred in, 30 has to be earned at the school. I just gave it a quick one over, they probably also have source limits. However, I am not sure, I didn't really look that deep.

But all in all seems a pretty basic school with basic policies.

[sarg123]

Thank you for the response!

I guess I'm a little confused about the options, because in this case I really do need to take some classes to really learn the material. And once I was looking into classes, I saw this option that you can transfer in 90 credits, so I would only have to take 30 credits with them and finish up within a year. I thought that that may be a better option, but now I'm realizing that they probably want specific classes, so I would have to take more than 30 credits anyway.

Ok, I guess I didn't realize that about the different transfer policies, and that they won't accept all the other alternative credit that the big three and WGU accept.

So, is there a way to take some classes at a four year college and finish up with one of the big three? Would a college allow someone to take just a few classes with them? (In this case, I would need accounting classes). Does any online college allow that?

Thanks.

[dfrecore]

Thank you for the response!

I guess I'm a little confused about the options, because in this case I really do need to take some classes to really learn the material. And once I was looking into classes, I saw this option that you can transfer in 90 credits, so I would only have to take 30 credits with them and finish up within a year. I thought that that may be a better option, but now I'm realizing that they probably want specific classes, so I would have to take more than 30 credits anyway.

Ok, I guess I didn't realize that about the different transfer policies, and that they won't accept all the other alternative credit that the big three and WGU accept.

So, is there a way to take some classes at a four year college and finish up with one of the big three? Would a college allow someone to take just a few classes with them? (In this case, I would need accounting classes). Does any online college allow that?

Thanks.

90/30 is a very common practice, I would say that the majority of colleges have that as their transfer policy.

Yes, you can take classes wherever you'd like, and then transfer them to the Big 3. And yes, most colleges allow you to take a class here and there. Most online and B&M schools allow that.

If I were you, I would look at the Big 3, see what you need in order to earn a BSBA in Accounting from each of them, decide which one you like best, and then go take the Accounting classes you'd want to take at the school you're looking at. Then, come back, apply, transfer all of your courses, and then finish with the ACE-recommended credit here on this forum.

[Yenisei]

Peru is a perfectly fine option for an online BS in Accounting (I considered going with them in 2007 for this very degree). Make sure you check your state's specific requirements to sit for the CPA exam as you plan your degree.