NCU, Bellevue, or APU/Liberty

I think I narrowed down my search for an MBA program down to three schools. I am having a hard time trying to decide between Accounting, Finance or Business Quantitative methods. As mentioned on my other posts, I would like to make maximum use of my background in claims when I transition into either Finance or Risk Analyst, Auditor or Quantitative Analyst, hopefully in the finance/insurance industry.

The reason why I have these fields mentioned because when checking careerbuilder/monster they usually mention degree in accounting, finance, statistics, and MBA, CPA, CPCU preferred.

I would like feedback from members who attended the schools listed below and your thoughts on my options. Really sorry for posting the same posts that is close to the same. Getting into graduate school is a big commitment and I want to make sure I'm heading in the right direction.


Bellevue University
MBA in Finance 36 x 430 = $15,480
Comment: I really like the courses listed with Bellevue and seems to have the best course selection between math, finance, and forecasting. It also has modeling and risk management, which seems to be closer to my background.

NorthCentral University
Tuition 450.00 (veteran) x 36 units = $16,200
MBA in Business Quantitative Methods or MBA in Financial Management
Comment: NorthCentral looks very good and especially Bus. Quantitative Methods. Problem is that it doesn't look like it has any acct/fin courses and appears to be focused more on math. The Financial Management looks good because it has a blend of all three.

Option three (overkill?)
American Public University - MBA w/Accounting 36 x 275 = 9,900
Liberty University MS Accounting 24 x 250 = 6,000
Both courses is $15,900
Comment: What caught on my eye on this combination is that I can take Inter. Acct I, II, Cost Accounting and Taxation, and other courses in route to an MBA and also meet the admission requirements and waive two courses toward the MS Accounting. It appears for the same price of NorthCentral and Bellevue, I can obtain both MBA and MS in Accounting for same price in 3 to 3 1/2 years.

Below is the list of courses I for each program.

Bellevue University (MBA in Finance)
1. MBA 522 Data analysis
2. MBA 541 Survey of accounting & info
3. MBA 652 marketing strategy
4. MBA 633 adv. org. behavior
5. MBA 642 managerial acct & info systems
6. MBA 626 operations management
7. MBA 612 financial strategy
8. MBA 639 strategic management
9. BA 602 Risk management
10.BA616a investments
11.BA620 cash management
12.MBA 623 Business Modeling and Planning

NorthCentral University
MBA - Business Quantitative Methods
1. OM5015 Personnel Management and Organizational Behavior
2. SKS5000 Strategic Knowledge Studies
3. MGT5019 Business Ethics
4. MKT6001 Product Marketing
5. MGT5031 The History of Management Theory
6. MGT5028 Business Statistics
7. MET5000 Principles of Productivity
8. MET5006 Operations Research
9. MGT6028 Applied Statistics for Business Decision Making
10.MKT6002 International Marketing Research
11.PM6004 Project Risk Management or MKT6005 Marketing Research I
12. BUS6011 Special Topics in Business & Technology Management

NorthCentral University
MBA - Financial Management
1. OM5015 Personnel Management and Organizational Behavior
2. SKS5000 Strategic Knowledge Studies
3. MGT5019 Business Ethics
4. MKT6001 Product Marketing
5. MGT5031 The History of Management Theory
6. MGT5028 Business Statistics
7. FIN5014 Financial Institutions
8. FIN5015 Financial Statement Analysis
9. FIN5017 Quality Concepts in Financial Management
10.MGT5005 Management Finance and Control
11.MGT5012 Managerial Accounting for Decision Making
12.FIN6010 Financial Management Research Project

*** option three ***
American Public University
MBA in Accounting
1. BUSN620 Strategic Management
2. BUSN623 Legal & Ethical Issues in Management
3. BUSN625 Applied Decision Making
4. ECON600 Managerial Economics
5. FINC600 Corporate Finance
6. MKTG600 Marketing Management
7. ACCT600 Inter. Accounting I
8. ACCT601 Inter. Accounting II
9. ACCT605 Cost Accounting
10.ACCT615 Individual Tax Research and Planning
11.ACCT620 Forensic Accounting
12.FINC605 Financial Accounting

Liberty University
MS Accounting
1. ACCT 511 Advanced Business Law for Accountants
2. ACCT 521 Advanced Cost Accounting
3. ACCT 531 Accounting Information Systems
4. ACCT 612 Tax Research and Jurisprudence
5. ACCT 622 Advanced Auditing
6. ACCT 632 Advanced Financial Accounting Theory
7. ACCT 642 Accounting Ethics
8. BUSI 620 Global Economic Environment
(two courses waived)

 

Bellevue University

Best bang would go to Bellevue University, also the price is right.

my 2 cents

 

Mba

BTW, stick with a MBA (Keypoint from a HR VP) (Don't get in a box that is too small)

Cheers

 

You should look at doing the MBA in Accounting from Liberty or you could combine Liberty's MBA in International Business with the MS Accounting.

Did you look at TUI University's MBA Finance at $345 per unit?

 

I completed the program that you're considering (MBA Finance) at Bellevue in August of 2008. I was thoroughly satisified with every aspect of my experience. Any questions feel free to ask.

 

MBA in Accounting

 

Liberty University's MBA and MS in Accounting is too much because Liberty's MBA is 45 units. Also, when I called them about dual MBA/MS they said none of the courses would transfer, but would accept graduate credits from another school. The MBA/MS would be 75 units combined, plus I would have to take undergraduate Intermediate Accounting I, II, Auditing, and cost accounting. That adds up to 87 units.

The reason why I was looking at APU because very few schools offer prerequisite accounting courses as electives in their MBA program.

APU (prerequisite courses for Liberty University MS Accounting)
ACCT600 Inter. Accounting I
ACCT601 Inter. Accounting II
ACCT605 Cost Accounting
ACCT615 Individual Tax Research and Planning

plus two additional courses from APU could get applied toward the MS in Accounting, which means that six of the twelve MBA courses from APU would help as either prerequisite courses and others would apply toward the other ms degree. Only course I would have to take is Auditing and I'm hoping APU would offer that soon. Instead of taking over 87 units at Liberty, I would only take around 56 courses for both degree.

I'm still looking at Bellevue on their finance, but didn't realize they have 12 week semesters. I like the idea of one 8-week class per semester verse two 12 week classes per semester. I just don't know how those classes would balance out.

 

Is there a reason you need to get a graduate degree at this point? Assuming you can get the experience requirement the biggest bang for your buck is the CPA designation. Depending on your state you could probably take upper level accounting courses through say LSU very cheaply. There would be some study materials which could range anywhere from $200-$3000. And then fees to take the exam of around $1000.

You'd not only have a credential to get you in the door for interviews but also you'd have a license with your state and right to practice before IRS. If you got sick of corporate life (or in retirement) you could open your own small firm and the CPA designation is a valuable marketing point.

Also it would put your mind at rest and you devote time to a QM advanced degree or any other study which interests you.

Regarding Bellevue, I think it's a great program but I think you have to find exam proctors. I don't believe that is the case with APUS or TUI.

 

Oh, you need the undergraduate accounting. I get it. I think you should narrow your goal down to an MBA in Accounting. The decision matrix is too complex and you don't really know if you like accounting...

 

My goal is to work on two paths and make myself as marketable as possible. As mentioned previously, I have noticed the route that I want to go require degree in accounting, finance, or math. From doing searches online I am noticing more searches for work when doing combination of "accounting or cpa / cpcu" then other searches based on my prior experience and future training.

Path one: Complete CPCU designation and MBA program. This will give me the opportunity to teach part-time at local community college. By having a graduate degree along with my 18+ years in experience handling general liability insurance claims, and my CPCU and SCLA designation, I can teach business, insurance, and risk management courses. Also, this opens the door to more opportunities with my employer or other employers in the area. By doing accounting or finance specialization I can transition into auditing or analyst position.

Path two: I like the APU/LU option because this gives me the option to learn more accounting and after APU it's only 6k more for around 16K combined tuition and gives me the option to consider CPA and also teach accounting along with other courses.

 

I only know from my undergraduate business courses that my favorite courses were financial and managerial accounting. Especially the section when I had to do homework and audit trial balance sheets that was done incorrectly and had to find the errors and correct them. Financial Management was my second favorite subject. That's what got me interested in the APU MBA w/Accounting because I didn't have to spend more time taking undergraduate courses (maybe auditing) and get 15 units of accounting and 32 units combined.

 

Teaching. I see, that makes sense. Then APUS is most economical for you.

Say, if you have the CPCU you get 12 credits advanced standing towards an MBA or MSM at Salve Regina University. Free credits are hard to come by.

http://www.salve.edu/graduatestudies/aicpcu.cfm

 

I saw the schools listed on the AICPCU site that have partnerships listed for graduate credits. That is something I also considered.

One option I should go for is to apply with University of Nebraska - Lincoln MBA in Accounting and see if I get accepted. I tried to remove that as one of the options for fear of bombing the GMAT exam. I bought the 800score gmat program to study online, but haven't touched it yet. I noticed they have a mixture of both accounting and finance and include intermediate accounting. When I saw APU/LU option I thought to myself that it was only three more classes and no GMAT. I guess if I want the option to teach, I should at least study for the GMAT and see what happens. I don't know why I am doubting myself when I took over 15 units of Pre-Algebra to College Algebra at the local community college and got "A's" on those courses.

 

Something else to consider is availability of classes. Some schools don't offer certain courses often enough so that you can proress at a reasonable rate. From what I can see APUS offers more classes more often. I imagine TUI would be similar, except they have 12 week terms.

Also, I'm sure Nebraska requires calculus.

 

That is one thing I noticed when I was logged onto the APU website. They did have a good selection of courses to sign up.

As for math requirement, I was considering taking "MATH 340 Calculus for Business and Economics" in Spring 2010 prior to enrolling into MBA at my local college while finishing up my CPCU.

 

This is really interesting...

Brenau University accepts 12 credits for CPCU and only have 8 courses at $735 each for veteran discount. Total tuition is $5,880. I did a search on google for Brenue MBA and was surprised by the amount of men that have the MBA and teaching at a college. Heck, for this price I can start teaching part-time and hopefully make my money back and consider DBA w/NCU. lol

 

Brenau U sounds like it'd be a great option for you once you achieve your CPCU ... it's a tier 1 school according to US News & World Report:

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/gainesville-ga/brenau-university-1556

 

I think Brenau sounds great for you. I would go for it at that price-12 free credits and $5900 you can't beat it. And I certainly wouldn't care that it's a lady's school either. Go for it!

 

Ha nice, I didn't actually look up Brenau to read about it & its history: (or herstory?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenau_University

"Brenau University is a private university in Gainesville, Georgia, USA, that was founded in 1878 as Georgia Baptist Female Seminary"

"In the 2007-08 academic year, online and evening & weekend degree program students totaled 1700, 80% female and 20% male."

Pretty nice ratio IMHO That was about the male/female ratio in the psych program at my undergrad school ... unfortunately the CS programs were the opposite, probably even more skewed

 

Don't they have any women grads of Breneau? Or women that teach?