Qualify for CPA exam

Hi all. I'm new here and I decided to take Ashworth's accounting
program. My goal is to be able to use the skill acquired to set up my
own business (eventually) and possibly qualify to sit for my state's
CPA program.

I already have a BA degree from a regionally accredited school.

What I am hoping to do is transfer the Ashworth accounting coursework
to a regionally accredited (RA) school and take the rest of the
credits required for the CPA exam at that school.

So far, I see that Kaplan University has an accounting program...and
they take Ashworth credits.

Anyone else trying to do this? Is it possible to flip Ashworth into a
CPA qualifying program? Any issues I should be aware of? I believe I
have 23 semester hours of accounting and 27 semester hours of business
courses and well over 150 semester hours total school as discussed
below...



_____________________________

My state is Illinois, and they require 150 semester hours of college,
including

1)Earned a baccalaureate degree from a program that is accredited in
business by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board and
completed
24 semester hours in accounting at the undergraduate or graduate
level,
including courses covering the subjects of financial accounting,
auditing,
taxation, and management accounting; and completed at least 24
semester
hours of business courses, or substantially equivalent (other than
accounting) courses, at the undergraduate or graduate level.

OR...

2) Earned a baccalaureate or higher degree from an accredited
educational
institution or other institution recognized by the Board, including at
least 24
semester hours of accounting at the undergraduate and/or graduate
level
with at least one course each in financial accounting, auditing,
taxation, and
management accounting and at least 24 semester hours in business
courses
or substantially equivalent (other than accounting) courses at the
undergraduate or graduate level.

________________________________________


I figure Ashworth accounting is 60 semester hours of undergrad credit,
with most of the courses (16 X 3 semester hours=48 semester hours)
counting as accounting and business courses.

In addition, I have 12 quarter hours of RA grad school accounting/finance
coursework (12 quarter hours = X 2/3 = 8 semester hours) for a grand
total of 48 Ashworth + 8 grad = 56 semester hours of business and
accounting credit.

Actual accounting credits I have earned should total about 18 in
Ashworth and 8 X 2/3 = 5 from grad school for a total of 23 semester
hours of accounting credit.

In order to get Ashworth credits to "count", I have to get them
accepted at someplace like Kaplan University and complete their BS in
accounting....right? Or can I just take a few courses in upper level accounting
and get Kaplan to make me a transcript with Ashworth credit on it?


My state CPA board says the following:

"'We accept domestic (U.S.) transfer credit posted on another
school’s
transcript as long as the accepting college or university is
acceptable to
the Board of Examiners. For example, a student attends Bob Jones
University, which is not regionally accredited and therefore not
recognized
for Board of Examiners purposes. The student then transfers to
University
of Michigan and they accept 60 hours of credit from Bob Jones and
post it
on their transcript record. The Board of Examiners will then recognize
that
Bob Jones University credit toward meeting the CPA educational
requirements."



Any help is appreciated...

P.S. I had to use Ashworth because I can't afford a more expensive RA program and they offered a really easy payment plan.

I'm still not sure how I would pay for a school like Kaplan (I know SallieMae is available) but I figure it would be cheaper to transfer there.

 

Hi Joe,

This "transfer approach" is one of the ways to get value out of an NA program that other wise would be worthless for licensing purposes. Another approach would be to enroll in an RA (or sometimes AACSB) accredited MACC program, which would qualify the student to sit the CPA exam. Anyway...
It sounds like you've done your homework and concluded an NA program will work for you in your state. Good for you.

Another option.
Franklin University's Subsequent Degree, B.S. in Accounting
Since you already have a bachelor degree, you could earn a BS Acct degree by taking ~40 credits (assuming ability to self study and CLEP/DSST out of the other required business courses, as well as Stats and Econ).
Tuition is relatively affordable at $233 a s/h.

There are quite a few other programs that are similar to this one.

Also, I believe that Kaplan (like most schools) will require you to take 30 credits through them. Don't forget this when you are running the numbers, your goal is to find the solution that is acceptable utility wise, and has the lowest total cost. You might find that the program I linked to above to be a better deal in terms of cost, not to mention it would almost assuredly be a more efficient use of your time (it would be faster).

Then again, maybe Ashworth is the best choice in your individual situation. If so, congratulations on making a great educational choice.

Lest anyone accuse me of "RA or the subway" or some such nonsense, here is a disclaimer. The preceding program listings as well as the accompanying strategic comments are for general purposes only. They are not,in any way, an attempt to sway Joe from enrolling in an NA accredited school.

P.S. The school I linked to, as well as many more, offer federal financial aid, including student loans. This would allow you to enroll in an RA program and pay in payments, the same as at Ashworth except you don't begin repaying until you have graduated and (hopefully) are more highly employed. In other words, cash flow shouldn't be a concern, only total cost.

 

Thank you, Myoptimism.


I have been doing some searching and I found Adams State College will accept Ashworth credits and they are very inexpensive. On top of that, they have independent courses that you can just sign up for any time.

As soon as I'm done with Ashworth, I will see if I can take one their BS in Business Administration or Applied Business Administration. I think they have enough of the rest of the accounting courses I might need.

As far as I can tell, it is 30 credits, $300 per course x 10 = $3000 total.


I wish there was an IT program that cheap.

Anyone know of one that is $300/course, besides trying to test out at Excelsior?

Of course, they have to take NA credits, so I don't have any hope I would find a school with the same utility for me that also offers a BS in IT.

Funny how once you leap one hurdle, you ask for more. I was content last week with finding ANYTHING RA!

Joe

 

I wonder if I should have just gone to Adams State in the first place, then I see that some of the courses require 4 proctored exams! It would take me probably twice as long to finish.

Let's see

ASC: 60 s.h. * $300/course = $6000

Ashworth: $989 x 4 semesters = $3956

Okay. I still come out better this way for the trouble.

I save about $2000.