New to forum, pursuing accounting degree

[azt579]

I also posted this in the General thread, but I figured this is the proper place for it.

I'm new to this site as of three weeks ago. Prior to visiting this forum, I knew nothing about CLEP exams but last Friday I decided to bite the bullet and take my first CLEP...Principals of Marketing. I passed with a 63 with the help of this forum and the InstantCert flashcards! I was planning on taking a few more to satisfy gen ed requirements at a local university. After reading a lot of the posts here, it seems like the smarter/quicker route for me to take would be to go to one of the Big 3 schools instead. Here's my situation, I have 9 credits from a CC and now 3 more from the CLEP. My job requires an accounting degree to further my career and I would like to have that accomplished in the shortest time span possible. With that being said, what are my options for an accounting degree with one of the Big 3 schools?

Thanks in advance

[bjcheung77]

Hey,
Welcome to the board.
You may want to take a look at the TESU BSBA Accounting option.

You should create a speadsheet and add your completed courses and required courses for reference and tracking.
A member here has laid the groundwork for many people including myself. See link.
Sanantone's BSBA in Accounting post-July 1, 2015 - Degree Forum Wiki - Wikia

I did a quick search and COSC, Patten, Hodges, do not have accounting degrees. But, Excelsior has a BS, MBA and combined BS/MBA in Accounting. WGU also has a BS, MS Accounting. My suggestion is to check them out as well and decide for yourself. But for recommendations of the cheapest, fastest options, these are the best of the bunch.

For myself, I decided on TESU as it just got upgraded to University Status 3 months ago and is probably the cheapest.
I want to then move onto a Masters at Hodges or Patten. WGU is another option for that as well for me.
You can check out how others have made their spreadsheet and compare to what you want and require to grad.

Thanks,

[azt579]

Thanks for your reply! I just looked into TESU's BS BSBA in Accounting and I'm definitely leaning more towards that program. The degree plan that you linked me to is perfect! I'll try to use that to decide which CLEP/DSST exams to take. I noticed that you are a dual major and I was thinking about double majoring in BSBA Accounting as well as BSBA CIS. Realistically speaking, how much additional time would this add on to my completion date? As far as credits already earned, I have Intro to Psych (3 credits), English 1 (3 credits), Survey of the Arts (3 credits), and Principals of Marketing (3 credits).

I'm currently scheduled to take 3 CLEPs and 4 DSSTs within the next 2 months: Analyzing & Interpreting Lit CLEP, Principals of Management CLEP, Into to Supervision DSST, Intro to Computing DSST, MIS DSST, Criminal Justice DSST, and Biology CLEP.....would these fit into my dual degree plan?

I'd also like to look into taking a few self paced courses (straigherline?) to supplement some exams. What is the average time to complete one of these courses? And is it recommended to complete all of the exams/courses prior to enrolling in TESU? Sorry for so many questions, I'm just eager to get started with everything.

[dfrecore]

I can only help with TESU, so here's the info I have:

Regarding the exams you plan on taking, the only ones I wouldn't necessarily take are CJ and Supervision. CJ is a GenEd course for purposes of the BSBA, but I would wait and see if there aren't some other courses you might need if you plan on taking the 8 TECEP's - that's an area that's easier to fill with a random TECEP, and I would consider leaving that spot open. As for Supervision, it is not helpful to the BSBA and will only count as a Free Elective; again, I would think about leaving that spot open for something you might want to take later.

Regarding MIS, if you end up getting the CIS dual degree, you would need it for that AOS, in which case you would have to take something else in it's place - but that's ok, it will be helpful even if you don't end up getting the dual degree.

The thing you do is plan the Accounting degree, and then if you want a dual degree, you can just take 6 additional CIS courses (12cr UL, 6cr LL).

I have a ACC & CIS spreadsheet here, hope it's helpful. You can take courses/exams a variety of ways, I just normally try to include a bunch of TECEP's (red), a bunch of free/cheap courses (blue) and Saylor/SL/DSST/CLEP after that. You can use sanantone's list to exchange out different courses however you'd like.

And if you are Btaylor89 because you were BORN in 89, I may cry! I graduated HS is 88...:eek:

[davewill]

... And if you are Btaylor89 because you were BORN in 89, I may cry! I graduated HS is 88...:eek:

You only get the crying towel after I'm done with it. My oldest was born in 1988, and the twins in '94...and they're in college right now...one of the reasons I needed to get my degree inexpensively.

So here I am, posting when I should be doing my paper...

[bjcheung77]

I can only help with TESU, so here's the info I have:

And this fine individual is the reason I mentioned to create a spreadsheet.
I pretty much copied mine from reviewing xlsx files composed by Dfrecore.
Then I used Sanantone's Wikia page to find the other available options for courses.

[Prloko]

I don't know anyone's personal experience with accounting from the 3 assessment colleges, but after taking several accounting courses, this subject has a LOT of breadth that is difficult to teach and assess using the straighterline/TECEP methods. If you are scoring 70% on accounting fundamentals, you might as well be scoring zeros because the lack of knowledge will show.

[tesu-acct-student]

I don't know anyone's personal experience with accounting from the 3 assessment colleges, but after taking several accounting courses, this subject has a LOT of breadth that is difficult to teach and assess using the straighterline/TECEP methods. If you are scoring 70% on accounting fundamentals, you might as well be scoring zeros because the lack of knowledge will show.

I just want to say YES to this comment. :iagree: The TECEPS would be better for those who've already worked in that field for a while and who already know the concepts. Squeaking by on the intro accounting concepts will only hinder progress later. It's like not memorizing multiplication tables then struggling with algebra.

[dfrecore]

I agree with Prioko. I may be in the minority here, but I think that for myself, if there was anything that I actually wanted/needed for my job/profession, I would probably take it at a butt-in-seat B&M school to REALLY learn the material. If I wanted to be an accountant, I would take accounting classes at my local cc. There is just no substitute for a professor, and the time spent really absorbing the material. I can't imagine learning that stuff on the fly, and then trying to go into a job where I need the knowledge when I don't really know it well.

Now, since I worked for 10 years in accounting/benefits/HR/compensation - there were really no classes that I could take that would prepare me for my job duties that I couldn't learn on the job except financial accounting (and even that I mostly learned from my boss). But it did help to go take the class. Everything else, someone taught me (or I taught myself) at work when I needed to learn it.

I don't think this would be the case with an actual accounting degree though. I think you would be expected to have a lot of knowledge from the classes you took coming into the job, and would be in a world of hurt if you didn't know the material WELL.

Just my 2 cents, take it for what it's worth.

[Prloko]

Yes, accounting is one of those professions that is difficult to learn "on the fly" unless you were hired to do something else and learned it on the side. Bookkeeping itself can be difficult and that is only a small portion of what an accountant actually does, heck computer's do most of that now anyway. General Business is all concept driven, so the CLEP method works fine, but in more specific type of positions, nothing replaces the full breadth of learning.