From Navy to MBA (Accounting Concentration)

Discussion in 'Business and MBA degrees' started by sideman, May 22, 2011.

Loading...
  1. sideman

    sideman Well Known Member

    My son is almost two years into his four year hitch and he's pondering what to do upon getting out. He's now considering an MBA with an accounting concentration. He's also considering working for a couple of years in the corporate world before pursuing his MBA. His choices in colleges are UT 1st and A&M 2nd (Texas). Would any of you suggest that he get a jump on it online now or take the butt in seat approach later and exactly when? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
     
  2. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    If he wants to get it done now and is not stuck on the accounting concentration, Oklahoma State University's MBA is curently the best deal available for military personnel - $250 per credit for a MBA from an easy recognizable AACSB school.

    Master of Business Administration - Distance Learning
     
  3. bpreachers

    bpreachers New Member

    As a member of the Navy myself and a Career Counselor my suggestion to him would be to settle on a MBA program now and complete it (or as much as he can of it) prior to getting out. Military service does not count for as much on a resume as it used to so by adding the completion of his Master's degree while on Active Duty your son opens up a plethora of options to himself that he may not even be able to think of currently. Just speaking from the government side of the house he will likely triple or more the amount he currently gets paid by having a Masters degree and going from Military Service Member to Government Civil Service. Just my .02 cents.
     
  4. bpreachers

    bpreachers New Member

    Also, if he wishes to pursue an expedited degree the two schools I would suggest are American Military University (Regionally accredited, online, 8 week semesters, just picked up ACBSP accreditation) and National University (Regionally Accredited, Non-Profit, fully onlin, 4 week semesters, IACBE accredited). If he is currently on Sea duty tell him to talk to his ESO about the NCPACE program as there are some free options that would enable him to not even touch his GI bill.
     
  5. AUTiger00

    AUTiger00 New Member

    MBA programs are not as impressed with military service of the non-officer variety as I feel they should be when it comes to admissions. If he wants UT or A&M he'd likely have to work for a couple of years after his service is over to be competitive. That Oklahoma State program sounds pretty good. While not as highly ranked as UT or A&M it's still a recognizable brand.
     
  6. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    There are way to many variable to make a statement like this. In government service the highest an MBA gets you is GS-09 if you have no experience. Experience in a needed area will get you a higher starting salary in government over education any day. If the OP's son is an officer there will be now way for him to triple his salary.

    Sideman: What does your son currently do in the Navy? Is he officer or enlisted? Does he want to be an accountant when he gets out? What is undergrad degree in? "Working" in the corporate world can mean a variety of things, mostly that you might not be making that much money, again depending on what he does now and wants to do when he gets out.
     
  7. Given that he is "two years into his four year hitch" I'm assuming that he is enlisted. Unless he is a Limited Duty Officer, or Warrant Officer.
     
  8. sideman

    sideman Well Known Member

    He currently is an MP in the navy. He's enlisted. His undergrad is from UT-Dallas in Business Administration/Psychology (dual major). He enjoyed taking accounting classes in college. Before he went into the navy he was entry level management.
     
  9. ELIAS

    ELIAS New Member

    Yes Sir...
    This is what I was thinking when I first read the posting. I would recommend he start yesterday. Leaving the military whether enlisted or officer does no guarantee employment. I know I was in for over eight years and at first I obtained work immediately however it was a culture shock holding down the gig was a whole new ball game... We (vets) do have our challenges. One is leaving without a proper exit plan (i.e., EDUCATION) whether undergraduate or graduate degree. I left with about 75 units and then started a degree completion program which took me forever and a day to complete due to work, family commitments. So YES my advice from a one vet to another please finish all the school you can get. Especially when there are so many good military friendly schools that have great programs... I wish him well sir.
    Warmest Regards,
     
  10. ELIAS

    ELIAS New Member

    Sideman,
    I thinking taking an accounting degree from LIBERTY or one of the MILITARY friendly schools will give him the heads up if he wants to learn accounting plus he can finish relatively quick before he is out... or take the OK University program and UT or A/M either way taking and finishing the MBA will give him the head start. If he already has management prior to service he can document on his resume. Plus being in the service constantly using leadership, management skills whether he is enlisted or commissioned is a no brainer. Get him on the ball asap... All kidding aside he is in his prime time...
     
  11. Fortunato

    Fortunato Member

    If your son wants to be an accountant, then I'm not sure that the MBA is the degree to earn. Sure, it's possible to overload with accounting electives and create an accounting concentration, but when your son actually gets to the job market, he's going to be competing with people who have full-on masters degrees in Accounting, mostly MSA degrees. Compared to the MSA, an MBA program will contain a lot of required courses that simply aren't relevant to an accountant, like marketing and business strategy. I'm not saying those courses aren't valuable and informative - they are - but they aren't as relevant to a practicing accountant as the courses that make up an MSA program.

    The MBA degree gets a lot of play here at degreeinfo because it's almost the perfect degree for a distance learner. It's a generalist's degree that doesn't have a high bar to entry (no specific undergrad major required for most MBA programs, and many programs don't even require standardized test scores), and it is widely available. Because a lot of forum members end up holding MBA degrees (myself included), there is a bias towards the MBA both in terms of what programs get discussed and what programs get recommended.

    Assuming your son plans to be a practicing accountant, his best course of action is to investigate the CPA licensing requirements for the state in which he plans to live. Most states require an accredited bachelors degree, around 30 hours of study beyond the bachelors, and a certain number of hours of accounting courses. In nearly every case, earning a MSA degreee will satisfy both the total hours and accounting hours requirements.

    One program that looked especially attractive to me is UConn's online MSA. It claims to be the oldest AACSB-accredited 100% online MSA program in existence, and is surprisingly affordable, at roughly ~$21K for the entire degree. The program can be found online at UConn MSA – Master of Science in Accounting WebPortal.

    Best of luck to your son!
     
  12. sideman

    sideman Well Known Member

    Thanks everyone for your great suggestions.
     
  13. DBA_Curious

    DBA_Curious New Member

    Just as an aside, I graduated from U Conn's MS Accounting program in May 2011. I can offer thoughts on the program.

    Generally, I found it to be very high quality. I'm not sure how well someone would do if they had no exposure to the topics beforehand as most of the courses assumed a Bachelor's degree equivalent of knowledge in accounting.
     

Share This Page