Hello, Its been a while since I've posted on this site. However, this site has truly inspired me to continue my education, regardless of my age (40+). I'm about to complete my BS in criminal justice from Southwest University (DETC) with 3 classes to go. I want to continue this great educational experience I have grown accustomed to. Nontheless, I have now decided to follow in my wife's foot steps and obtain my CPA license in Florida. I have minimal business undergrad credits, and no accounting classes. Is there an online or residential Miami, Florida program that would accept me after completion of my BS at Southwest (DETC). I noticed the Florida CPA requires many accounting classes, yet they don't necessarily require a masters degree. Can you all give me some recommendations on how to proceed with this new goal in my life? I would prefer to complete my accounting requirements at a local university or college, and the remainder via DL. Any suggestions would be truly appreciated.
There are lots of masters programs, do a search here and contact each one to see if they will accept a DETC undergrad. One in Florida that is good is FAU. If you can't get in a masters program there are two rather unknown schools (Berkeley and UCLA) that I took online accounting classes, which qualified me for a CPA. I believe you will qualify.
What's about Liberty University's Master of Science in Accounting- 2 courses can be transfer from other schools. URL: http://www.luonline.com/index.cfm?PID=14411 They do accept DETC transfer or degree.
Looks like a good option. There are a number of pre-requisite courses. Prerequisites (should be taken prior to admission) Cost Accounting Auditing Taxation Intermediate Accounting I Intermediate Accounting II Note, my above links to Berkeley and UCLA would qualify you for the above prerequisites. Also, LSU has a certificate that may help meet those prereqs and I understand is dirt cheap!
A member of this board earned an MBA from Aspen University and on that basis was qualified to apply for admission to the CPA programme. That student is from Canada, so check the CPA requirements in the US.
Note that you must take RA accounting classes at the graduate level to qualify with a DETC degree. See the Florida Board of Accountancy for further details.
Manny, One other possibility is Strayer University. They offer a Masters in Accounting and they are for-profit, which may increase the possibility that they will accept your NA degree.
In my opinion, most state boards of accountancy would see the combination of a NA undergrad and for-profit additional accounting courses in a negative light. I'm not saying that it wouldn't work, but for-profit programs do NOT have a good reputation in the public accounting world, justified or not.
I often urge people to avoid NA degrees for precisely this reason. One may enter the program thinking NA is all they will ever need. Then at some point during or after obtaining the degree, they find themselves with a limiting diploma. Manny found that he liked learning and wants to keep going, but with the NA degree, his options are limited. Either he accepted this in the beginning, or he didn't do his homework. Manny, realize that I am trying to help you get through this not beat you up for getting an NA degree. Who cares what the Florida Board of Accountancy thinks about for-profit schools. As long as you satisfy their requirements, you will qualify for the CPA. With that said, foobar is correct, for-profit and NA degrees would be looked negatively in public accounting firms, but may not in some industry, government and non-profit settings. The fact you are a licensed CPA should get you far.
I agree!!! I see lot of CPA and JD holders advertise their ads on the newspaper with the school that they graduated from. That give their them a disvatangage if they graduated from a less well known school, or NA schools. For example, if you open ads on two CPA; and you need them for service. One graduated from University of Virginia, and another one graduated from Aspen University. Which one would you choose? Of course, the one graduated from University of Virginia.
You also might want to check University of West Florida's online accounting certificate. http://www.uwf.edu/account/certificate.htm Prereqs could be completed by doing LSU Independent Study classes.
LSU has a distance learning certificate in accounting that gets you 1/2 way to a CPA in Texas. Note that Texas only allows 1/2 of the minimum required credits earned to be via distance learning. The rest must be butt in seat. http://www.is.lsu.edu/ACCTCertificateProg.asp?nid=103&Level=CO&Online=1
