Going straight for a masters degree?

[FastTrackDegree]

Hi. I read quite a lot and my plan was to get a BS in Accounting. However, I read that some UK universities like Herriot-Watt could let you just do a exam test and get the Masters? This way I could by pass a lot of liberal arts nonsens and then get my CPA etc. How does this work? Basically, could I not just take a bunch of accounting classes for a year for free online and learn everything and maybe get a personal coach for it then take the exam and finnish the degree?

Maybe I'm missing something?  

[Marcus Aurelius]

What country do you live in?

[FastTrackDegree]

Sweden. But not sure if it even works for accounting specifically because it's a regulated field. Anyway, As I understand it you can buy some of the postgraduate programs course based. And if you pass the the courses they will put it together into a masters or MBA?

[bjcheung77]

FastTrackDegree, if you asked me that question 10/15+ years ago. I would have said, sure, go ahead and get that HW Masters/MBA as it would have cost you just $1000 USD/course (10 courses). Now, it'll cost you about $1500/course so, you're looking at $15K USD. I recommended one of my best friends to finish his Bachelors at Excelsior in 2004 - it only cost $1500 at the time. In 2010, I recommended him to get the HW MBA. In 2014, he asked me again for a Masters in Finance, I told him HW had an option for that.

So - in short, those 3 degrees, through my recommendations, he did all the courses required for transfer to EC through CLEP/DSST, Uexcels, etc and did that for a very cheap price. On to the MBA, he had to study quite a bit for each course to pass them. The same for the Masters in Finance at HW, 10 courses/exams is all you need... it's a great investment of energy/money/time for the Masters.

Nowadays, I wouldn't recommend doing the HW route unless you are a very good "Brain dumper" and also know the subject like the back of your hand or something. For the ROI, the price you can get a US masters is so much cheaper with competency based degree providers. In your shoes, I would get a grounded Bachelors from one of the Big 3, and then go for a Walden Masters, all together would cost you less than 15K USD - just for the HW Masters.