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[quote=davephan;34435799]That's some serious investment, four years would cost almost $255K.....red. It may be wiser to take the first couple years at a lower cost local community college, then transfer the credits.............
Amen to that. Transfer your credits after two years and graduate from U of H or some other
institution. Much cheaper, generally smaller classes and greater instructor contact at the CC's.
As a former finance professor and current Wall Street quant who has passed the CPA exam, I'll chime in on this one.
The best value for you (low cost, low risk, strong future earning potential) is to attend the best state school where you live and major in accounting. Your heart may want you to attend a college like Suntan U (Miami) or UH, but you should think of college as an investment (unless, of course, you or your parents have cash to burn). Generally speaking, paying out-of-state for a state school is a money losing trade. Even certain Ivy League schools may not be worth the additional cost depending on your major, the amount of financial aid, and the connections you do, or do not, make.
Moreover, undergraduate business degrees outside of accounting, in general, have very mixed future prospects. Yes, some do well, but so do many who major in English or Philosophy. Accounting is almost a trade these days: you will use a high percentage what you learn in your job. I can't say that for other undergraduate business majors: you may use most, some, or virtually nothing of what you learned in your future career. Again, it's very 'mixed'.
Walking-the-walk test: my boys are STEM majors (physics, engineering) at state schools. Thankfully, these schools rank in the top 15 nationally for their respective majors. My boys have designs on getting graduate degrees, and may end up following me into the world of Wall Street finance, but with a STEM background they have many 'options'. By attending state schools, their 529 accounts will not be exhausted after 4 years of college which means money is already there for graduate school even if I become a member of the long-term unemployed. Had they gone the Ivy League route, those funds would be gone.
UH Manoa is your best bet if you want to come to Hawaii. All big 4 accounting firms recruit from the school as well as some corporate finance jobs (for the finance majors), and banking jobs.
Heald Business College? I hope you aren't referring the Heald College associated with ",Corinthian Colleges, lied to students and investors about its graduates' success in the job market -- the key selling point for such trade schools -- and intentionally recruited vulnerable students, one of California's largest for-profit college companies."
If so, steer clear from Heald and pretty much any other for-profit university that may utilize "aggressive marketing campaigns to sell these expensive programs to students, many of whom head single-parent families and have annual incomes that are near the poverty line."
Moreover, undergraduate business degrees outside of accounting, in general, have very mixed future prospects.
I would say that even accounting degrees have pretty mixed futures. To rise you have to get a CPA which requires graduate level credits...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketMaker
Accounting is almost a trade these days: you will use a high percentage what you learn in your job.
and it is basically a trade these days. so.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketMaker
Walking-the-walk test: my boys are STEM majors (physics, engineering) at state schools. Thankfully, these schools rank in the top 15 nationally for their respective majors. My boys have designs on getting graduate degrees, and may end up following me into the world of Wall Street finance, but with a STEM background they have many 'options'.
Getting a degree in a hard science, tech, or engineering is the way to go because the projected future growth is very high. You can always get an MBA which your much more useful "real" degree in some kind of hard science. Wouldn't it be great to be a business leader who has expertise in things other than general business?
I would say that even accounting degrees have pretty mixed futures. To rise you have to get a CPA which requires graduate level credits...
and it is basically a trade these days. so.....
Getting a degree in a hard science, tech, or engineering is the way to go because the projected future growth is very high. You can always get an MBA which your much more useful "real" degree in some kind of hard science. Wouldn't it be great to be a business leader who has expertise in things other than general business?
Good luck
You don't need graduate level credits to take the CPA, often times you need an additional year of credits, but they usually can come from the undergrad level (maybe there are a few exceptions). Accounting degree+MBA has a bright future, even brighter with a CPA+MBA, but it's a myth to think you NEED a CPA license to rise through the ranks, although it does help tremendously. And hard sciences is a bit of a misnomer these days; physics is hard, chemistry is hard, but undergraduate degrees in those fields are almost useless on their own. I have an electrical engineering degree and got out of that field and went back to school to study accounting and obtain a CPA because the future is brighter there (plus I didn't care for the work in engineering), trust me. I must say, obtaining a CPA was FAR more difficult than anything I did in engineering, but well worth it. Engineering jobs are being sent overseas at a far greater rate than accounting, at least from my observation and experience.
Automation will probably get us all one day, but I think accountants will be among the last to fall.
I second the idea of community college, they are extremely cost effective and usually the credits transfer.
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