[Anonymous]

I’ve been thinking of possibly teaching on the college level and have been toying with the idea of getting a PhD in Accounting…Just curious if anyone has gotten one/plans on getting one and why…Or knows anything about teaching Accounting, or getting a PhD in it…

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

@valueofnothing

Thanks. Your post made me think of:

“Anything in life worth having is worth working for.” – Andrew Carnegie

Important to keep that in mind…

[Anonymous]

@Acct

Thank you so much for your response.

I agree with you totally. In the long run, master's degree with CPA would serve better than bachelor's degree with CPA. right? Anyway, since I have a Bachelor's in accounting I was not interested in doing accounting as my masters. I was mostly interested in MBA with finance or masters degree in taxation.

I am glad you have two years experience in the tax field and you are doing master's in taxation. I think, that is a wise decision. Probably, I will do the same, I will try to get a job in tax field and see how do I like it before I do my masters. Thanks.

Good Luck!!!

[OnMyWayToCPA]

I have to respectfully disagree with @valueofnothing…

The main problem I have with not working while I'm getting a PhD is reducing my earning potential versus someone who remains in the workforce. By the time I'm done with my PhD, my co-horts will have 4 to 5 years of experience over me and will be making much more money. I had this conversation with a very well respected accounting professor who has countless years of experience in the accounting profession and no doubt knows what he is talking about (he has even written some AICPA pronouncements, I mean come on…)

There are very respected PhD programs that don't require a full time committment. I know this because I've done my research.

Do me a favor and google: Kansas State University PhD online; Oklahoma State University Executive PhD

Both of these are respected degree programs that “enable candidates across the world to earn their doctorate from a respected university while continuing their lives at home.”

So I respect those who quit their jobs to go back to school, but I've always been the type that likes to make my own way. I got my Master's degree last year when I was 23, because I worked full time while taking 12 Masters credit hours a semester. So for anyone to tell me that I can't get my PhD and still work is just wrong. But it's fine, the proof will be undeniable once I do it……..

B - 79 PASSED (1/4 there!)
A - 77 PASSED (1/2 there!)
F - 79 PASSED (3/4 there!)
R - 83 PASSED (DONE!!!!!!)
Review Course: Lambers , Wiley and Ninja

[mla1169]

Valueofnothing,

Not all online degrees are from Univ of Phoenix et al. Many respected colleges offer degree programs online. I have received my bachelor's degree from Southern New Hampshire University by taking online classes only, and have just completed my masters degree doing the same. There is no indication on my degree or otherwise of where I attended classes. Could have taken them at the Manchester campus (well respected) or the Salem NH campus. Who cares? I guarantee no student in the history of education worked harder for their degree than I did simply because they sat in front of the professors.

There was no pipedream, I had to balance education with being a great parent and that meant being home with my kids after work so they could do their extracurriculars, so I could help with homework, and so I could sacrifice sleep for education.

If you think taking online classes even at a phd level is an “easy” to do it, you are mistaken.

@ acct, my masters is in Accounting and Finance.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[OnMyWayToCPA]

Totally agree with mla !!

There is a negative stigma attached to online degree programs but a lot of it is unwarranted or misguided.

It's pretty easy to give up work or family to go to school. It's much harder to balance both. Online degree programs make it possible for that balance, but that doesn't mean they make it easy…..

B - 79 PASSED (1/4 there!)
A - 77 PASSED (1/2 there!)
F - 79 PASSED (3/4 there!)
R - 83 PASSED (DONE!!!!!!)
Review Course: Lambers , Wiley and Ninja

[Minimorty]

OK – So just to play devil's advocate, these are some of the things that come to mind when I hear online degree:

1. Easier to cheat.

2. Easier to cut corners by not attending “class” and just studying for however long it takes you to pass the tests.

3. Less in-person interaction with peers. Maybe I am misguided, but I thought a big learning objective of a Masters program (especially in Business, Finance, Accounting) is the in-person interaction with peers, working as a team, etc.

4. Easier.

Perhaps as we get further along in the 21st century, distance learning will become a lot more prevalent. For now, though, there has got to be a reason that very few of the top schools (are there any?) offer online masters degrees.

[Anonymous]

@mla1169

Thanks.

[mla1169]

Mini they more than compensate for the “easier to cheat” factor. Along with technology comes greater ability to police for plaigirism, etc. Yeah I suppose I could have tied a genius to my chair and forced them to take my exams on my behalf and nobody would be the wiser.

That said online students generally spend MORE time working on classwork than classroom students. And as far as the interaction goes, there is far more of it than in a one night a week class. For example there are discussion boards and you must participate 4 days a week (never once did that in a classroom!) and your discussion points each had to be a set length (250 words, etc). There is a definate time commitment. And the classes generally cover more information.

The whole arguement about online being easier is exactly like someone who took the CPA exam 10 years ago telling us how much easier we have it these days, computerized and can spread it out instead of taking all 4 sections in 2 days. The exam compensates for it by covering so much more information. Its different but I would never say or imply easier.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[OnMyWayToCPA]

My responses to the devil's advocate: =)

1. Yes (can't think of any way to mitigate this…) (Devil's Advocate 1) (Online Programs 0)

2. So it's easier to teach yourself than to have a professional teach the topic to you??? I don't agree… (DA 1 OP 1)

3. Yes. (DA 2 OP 1) Although the programs I am looking at (PhD) require face to face interaction either 4 times per month or for 10 days each summer.

4. False. One of the hardest courses I have ever taken was an online Finance class. My on-campus Finance class? A breeze. So that's just a rash generalization. (DA 2 OP 2)

Final Score: 2 – 2 ?

B - 79 PASSED (1/4 there!)
A - 77 PASSED (1/2 there!)
F - 79 PASSED (3/4 there!)
R - 83 PASSED (DONE!!!!!!)
Review Course: Lambers , Wiley and Ninja

[Minimorty]

@OnMyWay – So for number 2, this is what I was thinking: An in-class program requires you to be in the classroom X amount of hours. In an online program, you may be able to pass the exam spending less than X amount of hours working through the material. So your response is, “Well, if I am able to spend less time preparing, but still pass the exam, that is all that matters.” I partially agree with that, but I partially disagree. I think there is some intangible value associated with being in front of a professor, next to your peers, and learning the material. In an in-class setting, people raise their hands and ask questions and talk about real world situations. While online classes may have discussion boards, it is just not the same as being in class. Again, there is a reason that there are not a lot of top universities offering online programs and there is a reason that employers generally prefer someone who graduates from an in-class university as opposed to an online university. Do you think this is just because of misinformation and not understanding the rigors of an online program or do you think there are some legitimate concerns about online degrees?

[OnMyWayToCPA]

Well , I definitely agree that there is an intangible value in being in front of a professor, and that is something that (may or may not be) sacrificed when taking an online class. Your professor can be present or absent while in class or online.

I've been in many classrooms where the professor may as well had been in Timbuktu for all the interaction we had. And peer interaction was not even encouraged.

On the other hand I've been in online courses with the mandatory discussions that mla talks about and the professor was very active in participating with us. For those of us who were taking the discussions seriously, we got into very intense debates and learned a lot.

So I think that there is a misconception both ways.

That all campus courses have this great interaction is a misconception and that all online courses are secluded and you are a one person classroom is a misconception as well.

B - 79 PASSED (1/4 there!)
A - 77 PASSED (1/2 there!)
F - 79 PASSED (3/4 there!)
R - 83 PASSED (DONE!!!!!!)
Review Course: Lambers , Wiley and Ninja

[mla1169]

I'll tell you what, you just haven't lived until you've had the “pleasure” of doing group projects online LOL!! There ought to be an award for surviving them….

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[valueofnothing]

im happy to let my beef with this die, but a couple quick things

@mla to each his own, but when i was at my graduation at penn state and they “honored” world campus people, i was insulted. in my opinion, it's a travesty that our degrees are identical, because the experience (and probably the education quality) is certainly not.

@onmyway when you tell me to google a “well-known” program, that proves it's not well known. Granted, i'm not in the market for an accounting phd and really don't know the great schools, but in general, anyone knows what wharton/kellogg/stern/etc is… that's well-known.

ive taken online classes (to get to 150) and while I definitely learned things, it was nowhere near the total education package of classroom learning. its fine that our opinions differ and i'm sure you've done your research, but i know that if/when i'm doing recruiting (and if we even are considering candidates with online degrees), they will be at a disadvantage compared to ones that went to real programs (mla's degree would probably fool me, though). I'm not saying that that's fair or correct, but it's an opinion that i've developed and one that many other people have too.

REG - 81
BEC - 88
AUD - 85
FAR - 81

[PhDCPA]

I'm just finishing up my first semester as an accounting Ph.D. student at a top 30 ranked school and I'm really happy with my decision to go back to school after spending some time in public accounting.

Getting a Ph.D. is a VERY tough decision to make. You have to be willing to spend the next 4 years of your life working like it's busy season all year long while getting paid a stipend of 20-30 thousand dollars, depending on what school you go to. There is a huge payoff when it's all over though because accounting Ph.D.s are starting at about $140,000 / year.

A website that has a ton of great information is http://www.urch.com, they have a business Ph.D. forum there that is extremely helpful for anyone considering a Ph.D.

[Anonymous]

Teaching Accounting with a PhD starts at $140,000 a year?!?

[Author]

Replies