Mrs B I have a question for you about the regional accreditation website...

[Can219]

Hello, You recently responded to my thread ...thanks for the information. My situation is I'm overseas due to my Husbands work so this is the only time I have to do more schooling. So unfortunately it has to be online. It really doesn't matter which region I attend but you mentioned you can go to an accrediting website and select ( self paced ) and the options come up? I have tried to do this but I don't see the search bar where I would enter self paced or online study?? Could you possibly send the link? Our home address is out of Florida but like I said being overseas it really doesn't matter which state I studied from. I just need an accredited school, online accouting degree and I would like the school to have a real campus with the online option and of course the ability to graduate with a degree that does not say "online"....needs to be the same degree someone attending the campus would get. I'm at the very beginning stage so I don't want to make a mistake with my time or money. Thanks!




Most state schools have online versions of their Masters programs. They may not all offer Accounting, but enough do that you can shop and find something to suit your specific budget and needs.

To repeat Publius' comment, be very aware that not all states accept these fast-track credits for CPA certification and expect butt-in-seat (or at least their online equivalent) to fulfill the requirements. NC might accept CLEP or even ACE options, but if you ever move or are transferred, you'll be subject to the new state's requirements. If you're confident you'll always stay in NC, some of the fast-track choices may work for you. Keep in mind that, in the global business world, many employers send their people around to support satellite offices. Earlier this year, I know of two accountants from one corporate office that were transferred to another, and the company paid to have them certified in the new state. Having that flexibility to move about can mean a lot. Alternatively, there are so many schools that offer these same requirements in self-paced versions, and they ARE fully-accredited and easily transferred without concern, and most are very budget-conscious. The easiest way to find them is to go to your region's accreditation website and go down the list of institutions, and do a quick search for online or self-paced. I was shocked how many in-state options I had, but unfortunately did not find them until I was pretty much done.

[rebel100]

Florida makes it pretty easy to find, at least among the public colleges and select private institutions .... Degree Options

[marianne202]

Hi, there are 6 regional accrediting bodies across the US. Here is a link that easily explains what agency accredits which states. To have the best opportunity to transfer your credits to another school or to have the widest acceptance of your degree and credits you want to make sure your school is regionally accredited. I hope this links helps. Regional Accreditation for Online Schools - The 6 Regional Accreditors Good luck!

[mrs.b]

Hi! Marianne2002's link should get you the names - some of the links are broken. I mainly suggested your "home" accreditation board because that will allow you to search for in-state rates, but you can take courses from any region, as you mentioned.

Unfortunately, none of the accreditation boards have easy-to-search websites. The way I found local options was a bit tedious, but it is worth the time investment to get a wide assortment of online options at reasonable pricing and with time solutions that will work for you, with the accreditation to ensure your CPA licensing will not be limited to states that are more strict than others. To use Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as an example, since that is the accrediting commission for FL, I went to Commission on Colleges and then clicked Membership Directory to the left, then "Search the COC Database for all Member, Candidate, and Applicant Colleges and Universities" (first link in the list). Start with your "home" state and/or Level II (level 1 is associate, level 2 is bachelors...levels above that are levels of graduate which you won't need). Once the list of schools populates, start at the top and go to each accredited school's website. Most school websites have search features, so at each school's home page, type in "distance course" or "online course" or "self-paced course." If the school has a wide assortment of those types of offerings, you will usually get an obvious hit towards the top of the list. Do not waste too much time digging through layers, if something isn't obviously an online option, move on to the next school.

I recall spending 5 or 6 hours searching at the time and came up with 10 or 12 decent links. Some suggestions I remember off the top of my head - unfortunately I've since changed computers and my husband re-purposed that one for a media center and wiped everything before I was able to copy - are Pensacola State College (based in FL, offer partner rates for nearby AL residents), Troy University (based in AL, may offer partner to FL), Athens State (there was something odd about the online accreditation or non-enrolled availability or this one but do not remember what), and one of the ones that begins with a C...afraid I do not remember which one, though. Grr, I wish I had saved that list to my new machine because there were a bunch more that had a decent list of online choices at reasonable pricing in the SACS.

You will likely find quite a few in the other five regions as well, but if your home address is in FL, that can get you some in-state tuition options to start, then branch out. I can almost promise you'll be able to find every course in your list in some online version somewhere at a reasonable price. Your other search option, since you know the exact course titles, is to just drop each course name into Google, then backtrack each school that offers it to confirm their accreditation status with their regional board.

Hope something in there helps!

[Can219]

Thanks for the information. My first choice was TROY but they do not have an online accounting program!! (They have everything else...bummer) So far the only state that I have found that does not accept CLEP is Florida. I'm not sure I am going to go after the CPA anyway but I usually set my sights high so I really think I will eventually want to take it so that is why I'm trying to make sure I don't box myself in. We are not positive where we will settle but we are aiming for North Carolina. So I'm going by those guidelines as much as possible but trying to work in some other states requirements as well to give myself more options. The next issue does anyone know where my accounting degree from TESC could transfer JUST IN CASE I want to go after my Masters?? I'm in this peculiar situation being overseas but I will try to make the best of it....If I have to repeat some classes in the future..I will. But in the meantime this degree could help me get some experience down which I would need to be able to sit for CPA anyways....Thanks Everyone and HAPPY NEW YEARS!

[marianne202]

I'm in NC and I will tell you that our RA accrediting agency is SACS - Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Their link is here: Commission on Colleges Since TESC is RA any RA school in NC will accept your degree from TESC. So if you have an undergrad degree from TESC then want to enter a Master's program at say ECU, they will normally accept you as coming in at the graduate level. Keep in mind that each school does have their own policy on how many credits they will accept and how they will apply them for undergrad degrees. If your degree is conferred you will usually get full credit, but if your degree hasn't been conferred you may lose some credits. Most schools don't transfer in graduate credit. If they do it is usually very little. We have no shortage of schools in NC so I recommend you look around because you should not have a problem finding a school offering online options. Good luck!

[Can219]

I have a question....What does Conferred mean?? Sounds like it's better to be conferred?

[AlbaTiVo]

Your degree is conferred when you have actually received your degree i.e. you could have completed your degree requirements but not received the degree yet. For instance at TESC they confer four times a year, so completing your degree requirements and being conferred are two different dates.

[Can219]

Thanks AlbaTivo for clarifying that ~ Happy New Year