I have an opportunity to use some GI Bill Money & employer-paid tuition assistance on going back to school for a 2nd Bachelor's Degree, a Second Masters, or finishing my PhD. My choice is simple...since I can get some additional assignments at work that I would normally not be able to get, I think that a second Bachelors in Business...specifically Accounting/Auditing would be the best route. Now, since I never had the notion or opportunity to seek a second bachelors I don't know what the heck to do to get started. I did some research, but it seems like second bachelors are not a hot topic. If anyone can provide some advice...as always, I am eager and receptive to hear some. Regards Gibbs
I'm currently pursuing my second bachelor in psychology at Excelsior College; the school is RA and relatively inexpensive. My first degree is in business(also from Excelsior). The program is very flexible since you can complete much of the requirements via CLEP, DANTES and ECE exams. As far as I know, they also offer a business degree with an accounting major. www.Excelsior.edu Dennis
I'm currently working on a second bachelors in accounting at Lakeland College. Completely online and around $220/hr. After all my transfers and a couple of CLEPs, I needed 9 classes (36hrs) to complete the degree. I must say it is not the most challenging program, but my goal is to take the CPA exam, for which I need an accounting degree... any accounting degree (RA of course). http://www.lakeland.edu/
First, pick a program. Your existing bachelors would transfer into said program, and all of its general education credits, and most or all of its general electives, would count toward the second bachelors... leaving pretty much just the major or concentration courses, which should be around 30 hours (10 courses) or thereabouts, depending on the degree. Or it could be as many as 60 hours (20 courses). Some bachelors degrees -- especially ones that are in preparation for some kind of profession (especially regulated ones) -- can be kinda' specialized and, when so, sometimes nearly the entire upper division's worth of courses are more or less concentration/major-specific and are, therefore, required. Again, it just depends. At any rate, once you've picked a program, then contact someone in the admissions office and ask them if they'll help you learn -- without your having to actually apply and spend money on an application fee -- just exactly how many (and what kind of) courses you'd have to take, given the degree you already have, to get a second bachelors. During that phone call, you'll probably want to offer to send them (by email or fax) an unofficial copy (not to be confused with the one they'll require from the school where you got your current bachelors as part of the application process if you decide to go through it) of your transcript. If the school's not all full of itself, and if really wants your business, then it will help you figure out exactly what you'd have to do to get the second bachelors... and without making you actually apply. Once you know what you'd have to do, decide if it's worth it and, if so, apply, have the school where you got your current bachelors send to your new school an official copy of your transcript, get accepted, enroll in your first course, and away you'll go! Simple as that. Ten (or however many) courses later, you'll have a second bachelors.
Thank you all Killion, Dennis, and DesElms: thank you for the advice. With it being Veterans Day...I will wait until Monday to start contacting schools, but I will indeed check out what I have to do and hopefully get started as soon as the holidays are over. I welcome anymore advice/information, especially information on schools out there that have flexible accounting programs. Regards. Gibbs
Re: Thank you all I'm the kind of person who believes that people should optimize their situations by maximizing their opportunities. For example, I believe that even if a person knows to the depths of his soul that he will never want to take the bar exam and be a lawyer, he should still pursue the version of the JD program offered by his law school which would qualify him to do so, just in case he later changes his mind. Some law schools offer non-bar-qualifying "executive" JD degrees which are almost as much work as the bar-qualifying version... so why not just take the bar qualfying version and do a tiny bit more work, just so one doesn't slam shut the door on future, unanticipated opportunity. I feel the exact same way about accounting degrees. You may believe in your heart that you'll never sit for the CPA exam... ...but who really knows. Life's weird. Things change. So, before selecting an accounting degree, check with your state's CPA licensing board (or whatever it's actually called) and find out what it requires of an accounting program in order for you, having completed it, to sit for the CPA exam.... even if you're positive, for the moment, that you'll never do so. You'll probably find that most distance learning accounting bachelors programs out there -- especially the bachelor of science (as opposed to the bachelor of arts) versions -- pretty much qualify. But you should definitely check, in any case. At worst, you may learn that most account programs out there -- as long as they're regionally accredited -- are okay, but some may require an extra six hours of cost accounting, for example, in order meet your state's specific requirements. What the heck... it's worth the inquiry. I repeat: Always optimize your situation by maximizing your opportunities.
Check with your local accountancy board, every state has different rules for sitting for the exam and licensing. Most states require 150 SH, but some are still 120 SH and have specific accounting semester hour requirements and other business class requirements. Also, some state boards may require that at least 15 SH in accounting be taken in the classroom environment (an example, all states vary), or that the course has to be a specific length and you received a letter grade, etc., no pass fail courses or CLEPs. The best thing to do is to call or email your state accountancy board and ask specific questions that leave no doubt about the requirements and what qualifies you to sit for the exam. William Parker BS Accounting, Upper Iowa University MBA, Morehead State University, current student
Ok, this is what confuses me very much. I know that it is possible for someone to go and get an undergraduate degree even though their pursuing a Ph.D. or higher degree (graduate / professional school). My question is how does one justify putting this on a resume or explaining it to a potential employer. I have always had the indication that you should go from lower to higher degree. In other words, if you decide to get two Associate degrees than you should not have already received a Bachelor degree, etc. In this case you should get the doctorate, but not revert back to undergraduate. I am not saying it can't be done or shouldn't be done, but it seems like it would make it hard to justify or explain when putting on a resume or to a potential employer.
It's far from uncommon for someone with a doctorate to go out and get another masters. But it is kinda' unusual for someone with a doctorate to go out and get another bachelors... though far from unheard of. And the natural degree progression thing isn't as confusing to potential employers as you might think. There's certainly nothing wrong with a person doing it... though I have to admit that I had to fight, in my initial reponse to the thread-starter here, recommending that he go get an MBA with an accounting concentration rather than another bachelors. And, now that I think of it, maybe I should have. There's also the question of whether or not a person should even put the dates of his/her degrees on his/her resume. If one doesn't, and simply lists them in order from highest to lowest (or lowest to highest, if that's how they'd rather do it) the potential employer might just assume that the second bachelors came before the masters or doctorate. And, if so, what would be wrong with that? I mean... as long as you're truthful about it if asked, what's the harm of letting people make that assumption on their own?
I have not sat for the exam yet, I am working on my MBA and I deploy to Iraq next summer, when I return from Iraq I still have a year and a half until I retire from the Army, so I will sit for the exam either right before I deploy this year, or right after I return. Hawaii only requires 120 SH to sit for the exam, and 150 hrs to be licensed. I plan on moving to Georgia when I retire and I have spoken directly with their state board of accountancy and they will accept my DL courses I took. They also require 150 SH for licensing. I have 153 hours now, and will soon have 162 hours, but from my understanding, and I have to talk to the state board again, if the hours are on my undergrad degree, I am not sure they can be counted towards the additional 30 hrs required to meet the 150 hr requirement (my undergrad degree shows a total of 147 hours). Or, as long as they were not used directly for the 120 hr degree requirement, I may be able to apply them towards the licensing requirement. Regardless, I will complete my MBA and then there will be no question about meeting the requirements. William
Thanks William, For the reply and your service. I was hoping to get some pointers. I'll finish the Bachelors in the Spring and I'm considering taking one of the Exam prep courses, or at least buy the materials and study on my own. Anyway, good luck and keep your head down.
Like Deselms so elequently put it.... "Life changes...things change." I am a career employee at my job and in my position. In October 2000 there was a requirement that went into effect that required 24 hours of business & business-related classes to be eligible for promotion...Hence, CHANGE. Luckily I had the 24 semester hours. Now, I am being advised that the trend for my job series requires us to use "Accounting." If we act now, we can get the job to pay for a lot of the accounting hours that we don't have yet (I think that it will be 24 hours). So why not go for the BA in Accounting if I have to earn nearly 30 hours anyway? Like DesElms says...what if in 10 years they make the requirement a BA in Accounting. In 10 years I will be trying to catch up unless I "Act Now." And...as far as explaining to a potential employer; "Dear sir/ma'am, I have always wanted to improve myself...no matter how many previous accolade that I have received; whether academic or professional. I wanted to make myself the best candidate for any job/position that I seek to obtain...as well as for my own personal growth. I would think that an employer would appreciate some foresight and proactive positioning on my part to be competitive in this ever-changing world."
It doesn't sound like you've previously worked in public accounting, so you might want to talk to someone at the state regarding the certification of your work experience. Wisconsin (where Lakeland is) requires 1 year (used to be 3) of Public Accounting experience or "equivalent".
Thanks, I did all that before I started. Unless they change the rules on me, I have everything covered so far.
Accounting, CPA track This is something I did quite a bit of research on back in March or so. I wrote a couple of fairly long posts about it, and presented many coursework options for completing the requirements. I ended up enrolling at Excelsior for a second BS in Accounting, but changed it to General Business for the flexibility, but will still probably end up doing the 27 credits of accounting required by my state (Colorado). In short, I discovered that the courses offered by LSU Independent Study foot the bill pretty nicely. I also discovered that I can take challenge exams here at my local Colorado State University for any class for $20/semester hour...They are transcripted on my regular CSU transcript, just as a P/F. Check with your state Board of Accountancy to determine the eligibility of distance ed classes for sitting the CPA exam. -Jassen
