Non AACSB in accounting worth it?

I have two schools in my area. Eastern Oregon state and Portland State Univeristy.

PSU has one of the best business schools on the west coast, it also has incredible prestige in our area, it does not however have online accounting. So I would have to get my lower division stuff online then trect slowly through the upper division onsite. However it is an AACSB accredited school.

EOU is 100% online, cost per credit is only $146 per quarter hour, but it is not AACSB accredited. It also does not have much prestige.

Would it be worth it over the long term to trect slower through psu?

 

It depends

Do you work or want to work in an industry that requires prestige and/or AACSB?
Is grad school possibly in your future?

Most employers for the average Joe don't know or care about AACSB, I've found. What does matter is that they recognize the school as legitimate.

If you are unsure, I would recommend you choose AACSB from a decent school. You never know what your future holds!

 

If you are going CPA track, receiving your CPA license will outweigh an AACSB accreditation any day.

 

If you're looking for an online AACSB bachelor's degree in accounting, you might want to check out Morehead State University.

http://www.moreheadstate.edu/academics/index.aspx?id=9962

 

Good point. I chose to do both to ensure I don't have any hang-ups in the future. Also check with the State Board of Accountancy to see if AACSB is required to meet the CPA education requirements, as this varies by state.

 

AACSB required for CPA????

I have not heard of any state that requires AACSB eduacation from prospective CPA's. If any one knows of one, please give some specifics including site info. Opinions vary about the value of AACSB, but I think this is way off base. I don't want rumors scaring off students from completely legitimate and strong programs.

 

I don't think there is any state that requires an AACSB degree, but there are states that will let you avoid jumping through some hoops if the degree is from an AACSB institution.

New York State for example:

http://www.op.nysed.gov/cpa2006educregs.htm

"... an applicant for licensure can meet the education requirements for licensure by completing a baccalaureate or higher degree from an accounting program that is accredited by an acceptable accrediting body. The Department has determined that the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an acceptable accrediting body. This adds a fourth way to meet the education requirements to the three that already exist: 1) completion of a baccalaureate or higher degree program in accountancy that is registered by the Department; 2) completion of a baccalaureate or higher degree program that the Department determines to be substantially equivalent to a registered program; or 3) 15 years of public accounting experience in lieu of meeting the education requirements."


Massachusettes:

http://www.post.edu/online/accounting/ma.shtml

"The candidate must have completed the 150-hour education requirement for eligibility for a Certificate as a Certified Public Accountant in accordance with one of the following four provisions. . . .

"1. Earned a graduate degree in accounting from a program at a nationally or regionally accredited college or university that is further accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Programs not accredited by AACSB must be approved by the Board as having substantially equivalent educational program requirements. The Board, or an Educators Credential Committee appointed by the Board, will review the graduate accounting programs of a nationally or regionally accredited college or university to determine if such programs are substantially equivalent to AACSB standards, upon a written request from such college or university. The Educators Credential Committee will consist of at least three accounting educators selected by the Board from the faculty of nationally or regionally accredited educational institutions located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."


Nebraska:

http://www.nbpa.ne.gov/pdf/eac.pdf

"9. For Title 288 NAC, Chapter 9, Section 003.03A, a candidate with a graduate degree in accounting or a concentration in accounting from an institution whose accounting program is not accredited by the "AACSB International" (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) must be able to demonstrate that the candidate has completed all the subject matter requirements in Chapter 9, Sections 003.02A&B. NOTE: The University of Nebraska - Lincoln's graduate accounting program is currently the only graduate accounting program in Nebraska approved by the AACSB International."

eta: This examples are not comprehensive - I've seen references to AACSB in other state's accountancy laws.

 

Oh boy, I don't mean to "scare" anyone. I only know my state and AACSB is NOT required. However, I am fairly certain it has been written here that there are state(s) that do. You will also notice I said to check into it, it would be silly to make a decision based on a peron named "macattack" off the internet

Disclosure: I could be wrong, so check it out before you start your studies.

AACSB may be a non-issue for most, it may be beneficial for some. You had better figure it out BEFORE you start studing or it's too late. If your unsure, I believe it would be wise to go AACSB. You have to admit, there are people that re-do their degrees because it didn't fufill their needs. However, it has been pointed out this is more relevent for grad studies. I don't want to mislead anyone, it's just my opinion.

 

moorehead is not listed as AACSB accredited for accounting only business.

 

Only a small percentage of AACSB-accredited schools have separately accredited accounting programs.

If a business school is AACSB-accredited, there accounting degrees are considered AACSB-accredited.

The separate accreditation for accounting programs is in addition to that of the business school and a mark of quality for the accounting program. I don't know of any grad school or licensing board that would require accounting-specific accreditation - they are too few schools that would qualify. I think that ther are less than 200 accounting programs in the US with this accreditation.

 

No offense, but I'd want some validation of this claim before I made any decision. Have you got a link to this information?

 

From the AACSB standards for business accreditation (page 3):


http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/process/documents/AACSB_STANDARDS_Revised_Jan07.pdf

"The accreditation unit is the institution. The accreditation process presumes the inclusion of all degree programs delivered by the institution that permit 25 percent or more of the teaching for undergraduate programs or 50 percent or more of teaching for graduate programs to be in
traditional business subjects.2"

The '2' above is a footnote reference - here is the footnote it references

"2 For the purpose of determining inclusion in AACSB accreditation, the following will be considered “traditional business subjects”: Accounting, Business Law, Decision Sciences, Finance (including Insurance, Real Estate, and Banking), Human Resources, Management, Management Information Systems, Management Science, Marketing, Operations Management, Organizational Behavior, Organizational Development, Strategic Management, Supply Chain Management (including Transportation and Logistics), and Technology Management."


The accounting accreditation standards are a separate document:

http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/process/documents/AACSB_accounting_STANDARDS_revised_Apr07.pdf

The accounting accreditation is relatively new. AACSB has accredited business schools, including their accounting programs since 1919. The accounting accreditation has only been available since 1980 (http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/default.asp). Accounting programs are encouraged, but not required to seek the additional accreditation, hence the small proportion of accounting programs that are separately accredited.