She's Doing An Elite MBA For Under $1,000

I may be bias because I have an MBA. However, for those of you who are CPAs/CFAs, do you think that taking 4 MOOC courses covering the CPA/cfa body of knowledge, a person can sell himself to be an equivalent CPA/CFA? To me MOOC is great for professional development or even exam preparation, but it is not the real thing. The pressures and dedication of achieving the real thing are not inherent in MOOC, no matter how challenging.

 

I am not sure if my comment will be published as I am new here and I am assuming that perhaps my past comments may have not passed the "favorable filter"... but I'll try again.

I can see what you are saying here (I am a sociology undergrad and therefore very sensitive to social class stratification). In a past, unpublished comment, I expressed that I do agree that degrees are degrees and certificates are certificates because what it takes to earn each differs in time, money and sometimes intensity. I agree with you that it is wrong to make something expensive for the sole purpose of keeping it out of the hands of the masses and in the hands of only the wealthy. That is definitely a disgusting thing that happens in our society all too often.

I recently watched a program that was talking about how our country is at the end of its industrial revolution. The market is now flooded with massive amounts of degrees with no jobs to support those industries. So many of us ran to school because we didn't want to be ditch diggers or burger flippers but the reality is, (even though it is harsh) not everyone can be a brain worker. It is tragic though because so many are gifted in this area and shouldn't everyone have the same opportunity?

There has to be some way to not take advantage of the masses by promising them jobs in exchange for unrealistically priced degrees, only to graduate them into a society where those very same educational institutions have already flooded the market with credentials and there is no room for anyone else. To be blunt, we have to have some weed-out factors for the good of everyone involved. If everyone became an engineer, who would grow our food or provide electricity to our homes? In my opinion, we need to raise our academic standards, not our prices. If we required more rigor and demonstration of understanding, perhaps those who cannot keep up with one field will find their talents in other fields. Let people naturally find where they are gifted, rather than forcing them (via pressure, guilt, etc) into certain fields because they have traditionally been high paying - that way, they'll be stronger assets to our society and probably happier people all around.

I still think that a degree is a degree and a certificate is a certificate. If we want to develop a certificate that is similar to an MBA (don't we already have the CPA?), then that's great. Calling something that only required the passing of an exam a master's degree is just deceptive though, in my opinion. As an educational psychologist, I earned an assessment certificate in my program and if there is one thing I learned, it is that it is incredibly difficult to assess the entire breadth and depth of someone's knowledge with one test. This is why taking a prescribed schedule of classes and a number of exams, completing projects, presentations etc. over the period of a few years is a much better way to ensure that the majority of the important information has been covered and hopefully absorbed. That is why this method has traditionally remained the standard (well, that, and there are greedy people at the top who want to cash in on everyone else's educations so they have advocated for a highly regulated market). At a VERY minimum, if we decide to go the test-for-MBA route, the exam would need to be designed with open-ended essay questions using case studies. A few multiple choice questions would probably be acceptable but should not comprise the entire exam.

Just my two cents.

 

If that person can pass the CPA or CFA exams after studying that body of knowledge, then yes.

And in that case, it doesn't matter whether the material was learned through for-credit college courses, non-credit MOOCs, or self-study. The point is that the material was learned. And passing the exam proves it.

 

We are on the same page. As a CPA, I think that is okay with me. I do not care how the knowledge was acquired.

 

Yes it is possible.

 

Certainly. Many have coursework only - but you have to do the courses and exams mandated by (or acceptable to) the University, excluding prior credit, of course. Even in the MOOC-based degree programs. Yes - I'm aware of schools allowing challenge exams, but they're far from free. Otherwise - no degree, except maybe in France, where VAE tests/exams are still set by the University.

I'm on the page, too, although I'm not a CPA. Certification - you pass the test of the Certifying Body; that makes you certified.

Johann

 

Thankyou, PuppyMama. I appreciate that! May it never come back to bite you! :smile:

Well, Steve -- all I can say, is there was no IQ test here, when I joined in 2007! :smile:

OK. Hey, there's another Johann? ...Is he any good? :smile:

Johann