MLS Degree. Should I?

[shouldimba]

Hello, new user and I am debating a higher ed degree to help my career a little.  I'm in financial crimes compliance and risk management and I noticed a degree from Seattle U - MLS: Master of Legal studies in Compliance & Risk Management.  I've never heard of this before and did some research. The most info about the usefulness of this is from red-it, and it appears like 80% say it's useless.  I was wondering what this forum thinks of MLS degrees in general and it's worth.

To help - this is me: early 50s, Bachelors in Finance, most of my career in securities and financial crimes compliance.  I've been trying to get into management, but have not gotten it - maybe it's me, or maybe it's a lack of graduate degree, or both. I noticed a lot of others who got promoted have a MBA or Masters - and some are from a local easy one: UTD, and some are online ones.  I know it's late in my career but I still got 15 years or so to go.

So I'm wondering if an MLS would get a good route or maybe go for a fast, lower cost, and somewhat recognizable school like Purdue Online or Boston U online (I've been reading the 'cheap online MBA programs' thread and others I can find about these two colleges in this forum).  Before saying UTD - I don't want to take the time to study/take the GMAT.  Thank you all!

[Vle045]

Hello, new user and I am debating a higher ed degree to help my career a little.  I'm in financial crimes compliance and risk management and I noticed a degree from Seattle U - MLS: Master of Legal studies in Compliance & Risk Management.  I've never heard of this before and did some research. The most info about the usefulness of this is from red-it, and it appears like 80% say it's useless.  I was wondering what this forum thinks of MLS degrees in general and it's worth.

To help - this is me: early 50s, Bachelors in Finance, most of my career in securities and financial crimes compliance.  I've been trying to get into management, but have not gotten it - maybe it's me, or maybe it's a lack of graduate degree, or both. I noticed a lot of others who got promoted have a MBA or Masters - and some are from a local easy one: UTD, and some are online ones.  I know it's late in my career but I still got 15 years or so to go.

So I'm wondering if an MLS would get a good route or maybe go for a fast, lower cost, and somewhat recognizable school like Purdue Online or Boston U online (I've been reading the 'cheap online MBA programs' thread and others I can find about these two colleges in this forum).  Before saying UTD - I don't want to take the time to study/take the GMAT.  Thank you all!

If the courses sound interesting, it could be beneficial, however you also have to consider the cost.  It looks like it would cost around $50,000.  Do you get tuition reimbursement?  There may be similar programs for less. I think I have seen something in forensic accounting.

---

Here’s one at WGU that has a concentration in fraud and forensic accounting https://www.wgu.edu/online-business-degr...ogram.html

If you are all set on accounting knowledge, then an MBA might be better for sliding in to management. Or even one on organizational leadership

https://www.eastern.edu/academics/gradua...2wQAvD_BwE

[bjcheung77]

Interesting, from their webpage https://law.seattleu.edu/student-life/st...-and-fees/, it's $1462 a credit and 30 credits for the degree = $43860, plus fees you're looking at.  It's not as affordable as some other comparable programs that may get you 'further' for your money, it's not that great for ROI/Value over the others we may recommend you.  I highly suggest reviewing the page you mentioned here for MBA instead of the MLS: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...der-1-Year, Last but not least, it's much better if you provide us the info in the addendum and template, so we get a bigger overall picture of your scenario, such as budget, commitments, study habits, etc: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

[shouldimba]

Thanks for the replies!
Budget - I would prefer to keep my budget to $30k or less. I can go more if it's a good ROI but at my age, I doubt it would be worth it. So really I've been reading and re-reading that list and going to those colleges web site, and feel I could get a good ROI on 10-20k.
Commitments -1 newborn.
Study Time - 1-2 hrs weekday, 10ish total on weekends.
Timeline - 1 year would be great if feasible, otherwise 2 yrs or less.
Tuition Reimbursement: $5k/year from work

I haven't really studied much lately, but a few years after my Bachelors, I got about 5 securities/investment licenses and passed them all on my first try and higher than 80%. I also got my CAMS cert on the first try with like 95%. The securities licenses were like 150-300 multiple choice exams, and CAMS was maybe 100 (I don't exactly remember). But I also hear that ones like Purdue area a lot of writing. I think I do well writing as I used to write audit reports and received many compliments on how clear it was and good logic.

[HogwartsSchool]

Hello, new user and I am debating a higher ed degree to help my career a little.  I'm in financial crimes compliance and risk management and I noticed a degree from Seattle U - MLS: Master of Legal studies in Compliance & Risk Management.  I've never heard of this before and did some research. The most info about the usefulness of this is from red-it, and it appears like 80% say it's useless.  I was wondering what this forum thinks of MLS degrees in general and it's worth.

To help - this is me: early 50s, Bachelors in Finance, most of my career in securities and financial crimes compliance.  I've been trying to get into management, but have not gotten it - maybe it's me, or maybe it's a lack of graduate degree, or both. I noticed a lot of others who got promoted have a MBA or Masters - and some are from a local easy one: UTD, and some are online ones.  I know it's late in my career but I still got 15 years or so to go.

So I'm wondering if an MLS would get a good route or maybe go for a fast, lower cost, and somewhat recognizable school like Purdue Online or Boston U online (I've been reading the 'cheap online MBA programs' thread and others I can find about these two colleges in this forum).  Before saying UTD - I don't want to take the time to study/take the GMAT.  Thank you all!

1. The journey to law school, even for an MSL, is distinct from that of graduate business school. It involves unique challenges in terms of study preparation, exam formats, and learning methods. It's crucial to understand that prior work experience or academic degrees might not fully equip you for law school; a specific preparation is necessary. 

2. Consider the potential career impact of applying the knowledge gained from an MSL versus an MBA. Which one could potentially provide a bigger boost to your career?

[Vle045]

Based on your time constraints, I would not suggest anything CBE (like WGU would be). You won’t be able to work fast enough to keep those costs down. I have similar time constraints, and I know I can’t make CBE work. Another one worth looking into is at ACE. What I like about them is that the terms are short - 5 weeks. Since I have certain times that I don’t want to take classes at all, I find this to be an easy way to grab classes if you aren’t in a rush and can’t keep the momentum. Their Masters are right in the $10,000 range.

MBA (Maybe the Business Performance Management track) - https://ace.edu/degree-programs/masters-...nistration

MSOL - https://ace.edu/degree-programs/masters-...leadership

I just enrolled as a student at large so I can transfer a few courses into my MBA that I started elsewhere. Due to the 5 week terms and low cost, I will probably eventually pick a program, but for now, I like the freedom to pick and choose.

[bjcheung77]

I am thinking the same thing, competency based degrees are for those who want to go through the program at their comfy pace, and most of them want to accelerate as they can put energy, time into it. If you drag on for a longer time, these programs will be more expensive, thus, my suggestion is the $3K MBA from HAU, it's an amazing deal and the scholarship should still be on at the moment!

[inor]

Would a master's in finance benefit you based on your career goals? You mentioned that you are in financial crimes compliance and risk management, so maybe not. But if you think any semi-relevant graduate degree is what you need to advance, the University of Texas Permian Basin offers an MS in Finance for $11,730. If you take two years and your employer pays $5,000 per year, then you're paying almost nothing. Since you work in finance and have lots of experience, I don't know how beneficial the degree would be for you; might be too entry-level given your experience. And maybe you're looking for a degree more focused on financial crimes and compliance and the like. But you're in finance, it's a finance degree (i.e. very relevant), cheap...like I said, if you just want to check off that master's box for a promotion, maybe look into this one.

Also, no GMAT/GRE. Doesn't look like you need letters of recommendation or hell, even a resume, from what I see.

[bjcheung77]

@shouldimba, Why didn't I think of it earlier?! How are you with your data analytics, data science, or math/stats in general? WQU is your freebie answer! Literally, a free Masters as long as you're able to get into the degree, its not RA, but NA should be enough as you're in Finance already. Link: https://www.wqu.edu/mscfe

WQU MS Financial Engineering is the degree, I failed their initial entrance exam a couple of years ago, haven't decided if I wanted to retry, but my brain processing power for math/stats really is at an all time low... I'll have to brush up and do some data analytics/science classes (or freebies) before I go that route again.

[Vle045]

I have another suggestion on a Legal Studies degree. This one is in the $11,000 range. They are accredited by DEAC (National Accreditation) and CCB (Compliance Certification Board). They have a degree in compliance. The Corporate Regulation focus has some Banking, Accounting, securities courses included which may be right up your alley. https://juris.nationalparalegal.edu/Compliance.aspx