Is it beneficial to have two Bachelor Degrees? BSBA / BA

[KittenMittens]

The 100 and 200 level courses are low hanging fruit- they make EVERYONE excited, and reach for the stars, that's a good thing! That's why people here are so pumped up that they think they can accumulate degrees very quickly. But... the 300 and 400 level credits take more work/money/time. So, it's a bit deceptive when you read "oh, just 30 new credits for a new degree, and these 120 credits only took me 18 months" when in reality, it might take another 6-8 or more months to get those new 24- 30 upper level credits and quite a bit more cash.

Master's degrees in the common fields are easy to find in the $10-15K range and will take about 2 years. Accumulating 30 new upper level credits can easily cost $5k (or more) and take 8-12 months. I think when you consider the return on investment, you "get" more bang for your buck going for the masters instead of the bachelors...of course all this depends on a million variables, but I'm just throwing in my two cents. :willynilly:

Well said, this is precisely my point.

[Kaz]

The 100 and 200 level courses are low hanging fruit- they make EVERYONE excited, and reach for the stars, that's a good thing! That's why people here are so pumped up that they think they can accumulate degrees very quickly. But... the 300 and 400 level credits take more work/money/time. So, it's a bit deceptive when you read "oh, just 30 new credits for a new degree, and these 120 credits only took me 18 months" when in reality, it might take another 6-8 or more months to get those new 24- 30 upper level credits and quite a bit more cash.

Master's degrees in the common fields are easy to find in the $10-15K range and will take about 2 years. Accumulating 30 new upper level credits can easily cost $5k (or more) and take 8-12 months. I think when you consider the return on investment, you "get" more bang for your buck going for the masters instead of the bachelors...of course all this depends on a million variables, but I'm just throwing in my two cents. :willynilly:

Well those "million variables" are super important and touch on exactly what my underlying point is: everyone starts telling and no one is asking. For a "random second bachelor's" versus a "random first master's" I agree with you, and I hate to beat a dead horse here but more than once I straight-up said that the master's is probably the better move most of the time. But no one asked DIYcollegeMom why she wanted the second or degree or if she even wanted to try and get into grad school and that was half of my point. What if she said "Because I feel like getting a BA in literature"? :confused: Wouldn't we still try to help her sort out the best path? She didn't volunteer that info and no one asked, so telling her "don't get a second bachelor's get a master's instead" is actually inappropriate.

Too many people go into "auto-pilot" on their advice on this topic without even really finding out very important details. For instance, your numbers may be "generically" correct but no one asks for "generic" advice. They ask for advice for themselves, their particular situation. For instance, your numbers are completely wrong with regards to my own personal situation. No way $5K. Actually half that, and I already had that worked out before this thread was created. More over, I gave no time frame for getting it done and neither did DIYcollegeMom . Maybe we don't care about 12 months versus 18 versus 3 years? Again no one asked, they just started "telling". Personally for me I wouldn't even dream of enrolling for anything else until 2018 at the earliest. Maybe the school policies change by then and it's a non-issue? Or how about this: if she is going to complete a BS in business administration and is already asking about getting another bachelor's in something different afterwards, maybe it's because she doesn't really like going to school for business but she wants to finish what she started? I've known a number of people like that in life, who would much rather go ahead and complete what they started rather than completely change direction in mid-stream. Why tell her to pursue a master's in something she doesn't really like? Yet again, we don't know because it wasn't discussed, and on and on.

If I came off as snarky or rude please forgive me. I've been reading your posts for years, here and on the "other" forum, and follow your Facebook group. You are appreciated. But I'm not budging on this point: people are telling her things that might be complete non-starters because no one asked her any details. I answered her exact question, then it turned into a different discussion with different people that she wasn't even participating in, hence why I started a separate thread in case she actually wanted to get advice that is specific to her.

[Tedium]

Nope, that person is wrong as far as generalities go. Maybe COSC is weird because until very recently they didn't have majors, only concentrations.

If I were wrong or it was just a COSC quirk, I would be getting the BSBA elsewhere. Probably TESC. They have the same requirement for their concentrations as their majors (with a few minor differences), and TESC has a similar requirement for their majors. You have to earn a set number of new hours after your first graduation date. In COSC's case it is 30 additional hours. TESC requires 24. I couldn't find a policy for EC, but I'm not as familiar with their website. Maybe someone else can chime in for them?

I've seen the policy at other more traditional schools. The only difference I've found with COSC/TESC's policies when compared to another college, is that the other colleges required that the 30 additional hours be earned in residence at their school. Either way you are earning the extra credits.

ETA: Not that any of this has anything to do with anything. I just saw my name mentioned in the thread. For what it's worth, here are where I found both school's policies:

http://www.tesc.edu/academics/catalog/Aw...egrees.cfm

http://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curren...degree.cfm

[Kaz]

If I were wrong or it was just a COSC quirk, I would be getting the BSBA elsewhere. Probably TESC. They have the same requirement for their concentrations as their majors (with a few minor differences), and TESC has a similar requirement for their majors. You have to earn a set number of new hours after your first graduation date. In COSC's case it is 30 additional hours. TESC requires 24. I couldn't find a police for EC, but I'm not as familiar with their website. Maybe someone else can chime in for them?

I've seen the policy at other more traditional schools. The only difference I've found with COSC/TESC's policies when compared to another college, is that the other colleges required that the 30 additional hours be earned in residence at their school. Either way you are earning the extra credits.

You need to look at exactly what he said you said. This is exactly what he said that that quote of mine was in reference too: "What I mean is I don't think they let you do two majors at the same time. I think you have to complete one, then you can do the other, at least that's what I'm aware of for COSC from what someone recently said."
Majors. He said you said majors, not a second degree. When he did his follow up he then mentioned you and his description changed to 2nd degree. This is why this discussion degenerated the way it did: KittenMittens was getting basic stuff like this confused and I wasn't letting it go. Yes: 24 to 30 new credits after conferral of a first degree is industry standard for a 2nd degree. But he said major, not degree.

[Tedium]

You need to look at exactly what he said you said. This is exactly what he said that that quote of mine was in reference too: "What I mean is I don't think they let you do two majors at the same time. I think you have to complete one, then you can do the other, at least that's what I'm aware of for COSC from what someone recently said."
Majors. He said you said majors, not a second degree. When he did his follow up he then mentioned you and his description changed to 2nd degree. This is why this discussion degenerated the way it did: KittenMittens was getting basic stuff like this confused and I wasn't letting it go. Yes: 24 to 30 new credits after conferral of a first degree is industry standard for a 2nd degree. But he said major, not degree.

Ah, my mistake. Just saw my name mentioned and didn't bother reading the whole thread. It's too late for all that.

[DIYcollegeMom]

I truly apologize to everyone for not being involved with this thread. We had a death in the family and I am now able to re-focus my energies. I appreciate all of the advice and opinions. Everyone is extrememly knowladgeable and so helpful on this forum!

To give some more information about myself: I have 8 years of banking experience and lending. Now that my children are older and able to care for themselves after school, I am ready to re-enter the workforce. I am fully aware a degree is needed to make the salary I know I am capapble of.

I have 42 transferrable credits from Western Illinois University, where my major was English with a minor in Communications. I intentionally wanted to be a teacher, but my youthfull carelessness required my parents to pull the financial plug and bring me back home where I got my first job in banking.

In those 8 years in my profession I advanced as far as I possibly could without a degree and would like to aim for a higher position.

I live in a rural small town 45 min south of Chicago, so their are plenty of possibilities, BUT, I am going to squash those since I do not want to travel downtown to work. I am extrememly involved in my Community by serving on the Board of Education, I am the Township Clerk, I am a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Volunteer for the Educational foundation and a PTO volunteer. By working downtown I would have to leave many of my passions I just listed due to commute time.

I am looking to get back into the banking industry, in a Commercial Lending/Administrative position at one of the many community banks in the surrounding areas, preferrably, in my home town since I have many connections already in place.

This is all new to me since I have been out of college and the workforce for many years.

I was basically curious if a BSBA with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication would be better than a BSBA/MBA for my goals.

I chose COSC due to the fact they will have an official BSBA coming this July rather than a BS in General Studies with a concentration in Business Adminitration.

I am a stay at home Mom and have plenty of time to complete my degree as quickly as possible. I would like the fastest way, testing out, and the most affordable since we are currently saving for our children's college education. Also, I would like the easiest at this point since I have been out of the acedemic field for some time.

Thanks so much for everyone on this forum and all you do for us "Newbies"!!!!

[ajs1976]

I work in a community bank in PA, but i'm in IT and not in lending. For what I see, the BSBA will be a good start for being a lender's admin or working in lending administration. To move to a Lender or higher in administration, I think the MBA will be a lot better then the BA in Comm. If you want to get into marketing, then maybe the BA in Comm.

It seems like the lender admins and lending administration staff here have a mix of associates and bachelors degrees in business fields. The lenders seem to have mostly bachelors degrees with a few of them having masters. A number of senior management are attending a special banking school that includes a couple of grad courses.

This is the only community bank I have ever worked for, so it may be different at other banks.

[KittenMittens]

I was basically curious if a BSBA with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication would be better than a BSBA/MBA for my goals.

I chose COSC due to the fact they will have an official BSBA coming this July rather than a BS in General Studies with a concentration in Business Adminitration.

I am a stay at home Mom and have plenty of time to complete my degree as quickly as possible. I would like the fastest way, testing out, and the most affordable since we are currently saving for our children's college education. Also, I would like the easiest at this point since I have been out of the acedemic field for some time.

It won’t be nearly as easy to quickly test out of a B.S. in Communications as there is just a few majors that are close to being almost 100% tested out of. The COSC degree plan I developed for instance uses exams with established prep materials, and test data, but let’s say you decide to do some random UExcel exam in Communications, there are no prep materials for it due to the lack of popularity for that subject which would mean you’d have to study with a textbook for instance and that would entail a lot more time and risk. You'd inevitably have to take a few courses (probably need like ~30 credits for a major in communications, so let's say around 9 - 10 courses, so add up those maybe at say $350/credit hour you're looking at $10,500 or so, plus any other fees) so that would be a greater time commitment.

There tend to be a few degrees that kind of overlap between each other i.e. business, marketing, finance, advertising, etc. Honestly, if the degree isn’t in something applied like a STEM field, it really won’t matter too much what your degree is at least for career purposes since Bachelor's have become a dime a dozen these days. It could be psychology, history, etc. so long as you complete something. Though I think on paper, for career/industry purposes, a Business Admin degree looks more applied than one in say history for instance. It’s not like employers are going to say oh this person has a double major, we should hire them unless it's something like Accounting/Finance, Physics/Math, Chemistry/Physics, Economics/Math, Finance/Math, etc. But out of all of them, the B.S. in B.A. will likely prepare you for MBA or MPH kind of programs which is where the money is better spent even if you decide years down the road to do it.

Why? The simple reason is that Bachelor's has become like the new high school degree, as many of us know. A second major/degree tends to be a horizontal step unless it's in something applied like nursing, so not so much a vertical one in terms of skills that can be acquired. Of course, a master's isn't for everyone, nor is everyone interested in doing one, but if you are interested, and worried, you can also break it down into pieces over several years for instance West Texas A&M's MBA program is 30 credits, it's AACSB accredited (the best accreditation you can get), total cost of about $10,000 for out of staters, all online, and you can do like 6 credits a year (that's 2 courses), over 5-6 years. Also generally no GMAT/GRE requirement. That reduces the pressure quite a bit if you have other work obligations.

I may end up doing this actually since my employer will cover tuition benefits for a certain number of courses each year, and by doing that rather than rushing it all in a year or two (which would be hard for a master's), my master's stretched out over 5 years would cost like $1,000 or so.

I think the important thing, if I was an HR manager and combing through resumes for any job, given that there are so many qualified candidates these days that are young, and eager to work "for pennies" (at least in the corporate world), I'd like to see at a minimum A) if they have a Bachelor's degree (ideally in something related, but not a deal breaker in 90%+ of job positions) and more importantly B) how long they've been working, in what capacity, what skills they possess, etc.. Some basic proficiency in Access, Excel, maybe MySQL to start perhaps, and any related work experience in the industry.

[mednat]

If I were in your position I'd stick with the BSBA. If you decide you want the communications degree, it's not particularly hard to obtain with the use of Straightelrine, Saylor, Penn Foster, and the like.

If you should use tests now or later depends on your likelihood of doing the second bachelors. I knew without a doubt I wanted to do another, because my BSBA was for employment and my BAs were for enjoyment If I were unsure, I'd use the easy credits now and work something else out later on in the event that I went back. Planning for both degrees was doable for me, but it would have been much easier to just go through for one and I must admit it has been a distraction at times.

I believe TESC and COSC differ in a lot of ways, so I'm not sure how accurate what I say is in your situation. For instance, at TESC, once a student reaches the residency requirements under the per credit plan, they are able to complete their second degree without any additional costs (other than the graduation fee). Essentially this allows me to get the second degree for only the costs of my tests. Additionally, TESC transcribes courses in odd ways. This allows business communications from Saylor & Straighter line to be used separately. The same with Technical Writing TECEP and the DSST. You can see how this alone makes a BA in Comm very doable. I don't say that to promote one over the other, but only to say they are different enough that I am leery to advise on this.

[Kaz]

I truly apologize to everyone for not being involved with this thread. We had a death in the family and I am now able to re-focus my energies. I appreciate all of the advice and opinions. Everyone is extrememly knowladgeable and so helpful on this forum!
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I was basically curious if a BSBA with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication would be better than a BSBA/MBA for my goals.
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I am a stay at home Mom and have plenty of time to complete my degree as quickly as possible. I would like the fastest way, testing out, and the most affordable since we are currently saving for our children's college education. Also, I would like the easiest at this point since I have been out of the acedemic field for some time.
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Absolutely no need to apologize, and sorry for your loss. You are getting good advice already here and I don't know anything about communications so I won't try to speak to that. All other things being equal the BSBA is probably quicker and cheaper than a BA in communications because it has more test-out options like KittenMittens said. What might not be equal is how much those 42 old English and communications credits help you or don't help you. I skimmed your other posts and didn't notice a detailed list of what credits you have already completed. If you haven't yet asked someone here to read through them you should do so. I'd hazard a guess that the net result will still be the BSBA though. At COSC and TESC you could test out of 95-100% of a BSBA. That's tough to beat nowadays.