I went on the cheap and took a financial accounting course at the local CC

N2IT

I'm slated to take a financial accounting course 1 and 2. The cost is 264 after tax before books. Rather each course is 264 after taxes before course gear / books.

It's completely on line and it's affordable. With the cost of MBA programs shooting through the roof I am not in position to take on the burden of debt for an MBA program. I know this is the cheap way to do things, but I sent an email to professor explaining my goals and what knowledge I needed to obtain and he said the course is pretty much synched up with the knowledge gaps I possess. My foundational level knowledge of accounting mirrors up to exactly the preq that course requires so it seems to be a solid fit. The committment is one class for 8 weeks then another class for 8 weeks. He mentioned that they also offer a mangerial accounting course that might be beneficial, but to hold off and get a feel for those two courses. My main goal is to fill the knowledge gaps that I possess.

I did check out rate my professor and he had over 10 pages of comments and his overall rating was a 4.9. It seemed like he was a really good professor and some of the comments were very encouraging.

What do you think about this decision? I think at 264 dollars a course is dirt cheap and the ROI has the potential to be extremely high. Especially since I can take what I learn and apply it at work.

powerfool

Do you not get any sort of tuition reimbursement from work?

N2IT

powerfool wrote: »

Do you not get any sort of tuition reimbursement from work?

Power
Unfortunately not at this point.

powerfool

N2IT wrote: »

Power
Unfortunately not at this point.

Bummer. Well, at this point in your career, if you are looking to do an MBA... you will want that benefit sooner rather than later. Typically, most employers that do offer it only give about $5k/year, based on tax considerations. The good MBA programs are going to cost a lot more than that.

One thing that is typically done with expensive MBA programs, too, is to take any tuition that is not reimbursed and write it off as an "unreimbursed business expense." The rationale is that the amount you write off will far exceed whatever you could write off as a standard tuition cost or for one of the education tax credits. Since it will be written off in that manner, it will push your adjusted gross income (AGI) down, and will potentially help you qualify for many of tax advantages.

I know at this point in my career, even though I am the sole bread winner, I am losing the ability to write off student loan interest and my child tax credits. While I don't want to hijack the discussion, the taxation in this country is detrimental, and the current administration is only going to make it worse... and I am nowhere near making the magic "$250K". As with you, I live in the midwest, so the cost of living isn't so bad. I would imagine that there are plenty of folks in cities like NYC, LA, and Chi-town that make $250K and aren't any better off than I am.

Anyhow, I just wanted to highlight some of the tax considerations that can assist you.

One other thing to consider is just doing a graduate certificate somewhere. There are many schools that offer these graduate certificates and it lowers your time and financial commitment. If you choose one, however, make sure that you can apply it to an MBA after you are done. Some of these exist. I know that Indiana University is offering a graduate certificate geared toward deploying SAP and it applies to the MBA there, at Kelley School of Business.

N2IT

powerfool wrote: »

Bummer. Well, at this point in your career, if you are looking to do an MBA... you will want that benefit sooner rather than later. Typically, most employers that do offer it only give about $5k/year, based on tax considerations. The good MBA programs are going to cost a lot more than that.

One thing that is typically done with expensive MBA programs, too, is to take any tuition that is not reimbursed and write it off as an "unreimbursed business expense." The rationale is that the amount you write off will far exceed whatever you could write off as a standard tuition cost or for one of the education tax credits. Since it will be written off in that manner, it will push your adjusted gross income (AGI) down, and will potentially help you qualify for many of tax advantages.

I know at this point in my career, even though I am the sole bread winner, I am losing the ability to write off student loan interest and my child tax credits. While I don't want to hijack the discussion, the taxation in this country is detrimental, and the current administration is only going to make it worse... and I am nowhere near making the magic "$250K". As with you, I live in the midwest, so the cost of living isn't so bad. I would imagine that there are plenty of folks in cities like NYC, LA, and Chi-town that make $250K and aren't any better off than I am.

Anyhow, I just wanted to highlight some of the tax considerations that can assist you.

One other thing to consider is just doing a graduate certificate somewhere. There are many schools that offer these graduate certificates and it lowers your time and financial commitment. If you choose one, however, make sure that you can apply it to an MBA after you are done. Some of these exist. I know that Indiana University is offering a graduate certificate geared toward deploying SAP and it applies to the MBA there, at Kelley School of Business.

Great post Power

I really do appreciate the information provided. The deploying SAP/MBA sounds wonderful. I will have to take a look at that.

Rappeller

Here is another thought.

MBA Online | Master of Business Administration Degree Online | WGU College of Business

It's online, it's competency based, and very affordable.

erpadmin

Rappeller wrote: »

Here is another thought.

MBA Online | Master of Business Administration Degree Online | WGU College of Business

It's online, it's competency based, and very affordable.

As a WGU student going for his undergrad, I can not agree with this suggestion. Any MBA prospective student worth his salt is going to want an AACSB-accredited school. WGU isn't even gunning for the accreditation, let alone possess it.

AACSB is considered the "gold standard" in much the same way regional accreditation is the "gold standard" for undergraduate degrees (which is why I don't mind recommending WGU to people going for a BS degree).

The only MS degree from WGU that seems to be on the level is the MS-ISA degree. However, Information Security is not in my personal scope at this time.


But to get back to topic, there are a lot of affordable MBA degrees that are available online that are AACSB-accredited, and N2IT's new course will better prepare him for those, if he so wishes. Because I'm in the metro-NYC area, however, I also have access to regular B&Ms that can also do the job. I know N2IT would (perhaps) want a more general MBA. I, however, want one with an IT/MIS/Technology concentration. (As opposed to Finance, Entrepreneurship, International Business, etc., etc.) I want to one day run an IT shop.

veritas_libertas

erpadmin wrote: »

As a WGU student going for his undergrad, I can not agree with this suggestion. Any MBA prospective student worth his salt is going to want an AACSB-accredited school. WGU isn't even gunning for the accreditation, let alone possess it.

I have to agree.

Rappeller

5 years ago I would agree with you 100% about the where the accreditation comes from, but recently several factors are starting to change that for a majority of employers, not necessarily all of them. I dated a girl who got an MBA that wasn't from an AACSB-accredited school and she landed a very sweet job with a upper crust employer (one reason we broke up) and moved to Manhatton, not bad for a girl who was raised on a horse ranch, by a single father (the other reason we broke up). I just posted it as an option not knowing the full details of where he wanted to go with his MBA, some people want New York, some want to stay where they are.

N2IT

erpadmin wrote: »

As a WGU student going for his undergrad, I can not agree with this suggestion. Any MBA prospective student worth his salt is going to want an AACSB-accredited school. WGU isn't even gunning for the accreditation, let alone possess it.

AACSB is considered the "gold standard" in much the same way regional accreditation is the "gold standard" for undergraduate degrees (which is why I don't mind recommending WGU to people going for a BS degree).

The only MS degree from WGU that seems to be on the level is the MS-ISA degree. However, Information Security is not in my personal scope at this time.


But to get back to topic, there are a lot of affordable MBA degrees that are available online that are AACSB-accredited, and N2IT's new course will better prepare him for those, if he so wishes. Because I'm in the metro-NYC area, however, I also have access to regular B&Ms that can also do the job. I know N2IT would (perhaps) want a more general MBA. I, however, want one with an IT/MIS/Technology concentration. (As opposed to Finance, Entrepreneurship, International Business, etc., etc.) I want to one day run an IT shop.

ERP this is exactly what I am thinking. Get 2-4 community college courses, which will prepare me for the accounting and finance requirements for an MBA program. It's been 10 years since I had those studies. I can use it to evaluate if I have the drive and energy to take on such a feat. Either way I am gaining valuable skills in the mean time and can leverage those into an MBA program if I still have the hunger.

erpadmin

N2IT wrote: »

ERP this is exactly what I am thinking. Get 2-4 community college courses, which will prepare me for the accounting and finance requirements for an MBA program. It's been 10 years since I had those studies. I can use it to evaluate if I have the drive and energy to take on such a feat. Either way I am gaining valuable skills in the mean time and can leverage those into an MBA program if I still have the hunger.

I know what you mean man. I have to kind of do the same to pick up Calculus, though I'm going to see if I can do it with Straighterline.com for that and then transfer for to ACE credit. The fact that I'm even making the attempt shows how serious I am to going to the next level.

Even if your class doesn't transfer over for credit, at the very least, you will be more than prepared to do it at the graduate level.

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

I know what you mean man. I have to kind of do the same to pick up Calculus, though I'm going to see if I can do it with Straighterline.com for that and then transfer for to ACE credit. The fact that I'm even making the attempt shows how serious I am to going to the next level. . . ..

I confess to being a lazy soul when it comes to the math-- so much so that I'm contemplating an MS in Management or something rather than your regular "have to do the equations" MBA.

erpadmin

petedude wrote: »

I confess to being a lazy soul when it comes to the math-- so much so that I'm contemplating an MS in Management or something rather than your regular "have to do the equations" MBA.

Petedude,

Let me give you a current real life comparison of NJIT's MSM degree to it's own MBA program.

NJIT's MS in Management is 30 credits for degree completion.
NJIT's MBA is 48 credits for degree completion.


If you compare both programs, you can take the EXACT same classes in the MBA program that would have earned one an MS in Management. So one figures "hey, let me do an easy 30 credits and I'll pick up 18 credits from NJIT later to get an MBA degree..."

Except that NJIT pretty much pulls a jack-move.

Commonalities between MSM and MBA degree requirements permit students to complete the MSM and then earn an MBA by completing 30 additional credits.

WTF is that?! We just saw that the litteral difference between the MSM and the MBA was a friggin 18 credits!! Where the heck does the additional 12 credits come from?

NJIT is pretty much treating their MSM program like a sucker bet. They want you to spend more time AND money going for an MBA instead of one getting two degrees for.

I would check and see if your MSM program does the same jack-move...this ought to be a crime.

Also, as much as I abhor math (and at times very lazy when it comes to it), I'm also very pratical...[a Virgo trait... ]

Devilsbane

I was disappointed that I wasn't able to take some sort of personal finance class as part of my degree. There is a lot of valuable info there that a lot of people don't know. It baffles me about some of the worthless general education classes that I'm required to take but to do something that would actually be valuable is above and beyond.

I took it upon myself and read Personal Finance for Dummies, Investing for Dummies, and read some various googled articles and found it to give me a much better understanding. I'd definitely recommend the personal finance for dummies book if you want to get a grasp on how money works.

N2IT wrote: »

What do you think about this decision? I think at 264 dollars a course is dirt cheap and the ROI has the potential to be extremely high. Especially since I can take what I learn and apply it at work.

You hit the nail right on the head here. Less than $300 that could save you thousands and thousands of dollars over your life. It's never to early to start preparing for retirement and that is going to be one of the big realizations. Oh what a difference sticking 5% of your paycheck away makes between someone starting at 20 and someone else starting at 30. I'd take it.

powerfool

Rappeller wrote: »

5 years ago I would agree with you 100% about the where the accreditation comes from, but recently several factors are starting to change that for a majority of employers, not necessarily all of them. I dated a girl who got an MBA that wasn't from an AACSB-accredited school and she landed a very sweet job with a upper crust employer (one reason we broke up) and moved to Manhatton, not bad for a girl who was raised on a horse ranch, by a single father (the other reason we broke up). I just posted it as an option not knowing the full details of where he wanted to go with his MBA, some people want New York, some want to stay where they are.

That can happen, but there are also tons of folks with non-AACSB schools that can't even seem to find any stable work, let alone something that an average BS holder can get; I know several of them.

An MBA is one of those degrees where your school choice really makes a difference.

powerfool

A post on Slashdot today is citing information that is essentially equating an MS of today to the BS of yesterday. So many folks have a BS that more folks are turning to graduate school to improve their situations. Basically, the master's degree was really just a pat on the back for those that tried and failed to get a PhD, but it has become acceptable for much more now. I am glad that I am already pursuing mine... When I started my BS, folks that I went to high school with were already graduating, even though I graduated from high school a year early...

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

NJIT is pretty much treating their MSM program like a sucker bet. They want you to spend more time AND money going for an MBA instead of one getting two degrees for.

I would check and see if your MSM program does the same jack-move...this ought to be a crime.

Also, as much as I abhor math (and at times very lazy when it comes to it), I'm also very pratical...[a Virgo trait... ]

Thanks for pointing that out, erp!

I'm a Virgo as well-- I think my practicality comes in the form of realizing I can't learn math quickly enough to keep up with the math-heavy courses.

I've seen a few sucker bets like the NJIT program, but I think most schools structure their master's in management programs such that the people who wouldn't excel in a traditional MBA can still get through a graduate degree.

My other concern lately is that most MBA degrees are generalist degrees, and without a concentration of at least 18 units in some specific area you're going to have a hard time landing an adjunct teaching job later. I realize most on this board are not thinking about teaching posts, but I'm sure some are-- especially for some extra change during retirement off in the future.

erpadmin

petedude wrote: »

My other concern lately is that most MBA degrees are generalist degrees, and without a concentration of at least 18 units in some specific area you're going to have a hard time landing an adjunct teaching job later. I realize most on this board are not thinking about teaching posts, but I'm sure some are-- especially for some extra change during retirement off in the future.

Most concentrations I've seen were at least 9 credits/semester hours. I would like to know how you came to the conclusion that one needs 18 credits in one area, especially when 18 credits at the school I attended yesterday for their info session will get you two concentrations (and hence, a longer stay...

I would think that if I wanted a general MBA with no concentration, I could still adjunct teach. I'd be happy doing it at the community college/undergraduate level. (graduate would require a Ph.D....f that..I might CONSIDER that when I am retired though....lmao.)

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

Most concentrations I've seen were at least 9 credits/semester hours. I would like to know how you came to the conclusion that one needs 18 credits in one area, especially when 18 credits at the school I attended yesterday for their info session will get you two concentrations (and hence, a longer stay...

I would think that if I wanted a general MBA with no concentration, I could still adjunct teach. I'd be happy doing it at the community college/undergraduate level. (graduate would require a Ph.D....f that..I might CONSIDER that when I am retired though....lmao.)

I've been reading up a bit on degree forums, and from what I'm seeing most environments won't hire you to adjunct without 18 units in a given area. I guess I should hunt down some posts for such positions just to check. . .