[Anonymous]

I am back. It has been almost 6 months that I have passed all the four sections of this exam. I am still looking for ways to get the licensure. Here is my master plan. Please let me know if its going to work. ( Disclosure: This is not my idea, but found it online after extensive research)

Staus as of now: I have bachelors degree, with 133 credit hours. 30 credit hours accounting and 33 credit hours business and other good stuff. I have three years of work experience in a private firm as a staff accountant under the supervision of a CPA ( not active )

Problem: Need 17 credits more. Also, the cpa I am working under does not have the active license.

Solution: Will take 2 online classes from LSU ( Distance learning )

1. Government Accounting

2. Fraud Accounting

Will cost be around 600 and 2 months of work.

Then will take two CLEP exams.

1. Analyzing and Interpreting

2. Social Sciences and History

Each class is worth 6 credits. Will cost be around 200 and 1 month of work

After I am done with all these, I will get the offical transcript from LSU and College Board ( CLEP ) and apply to Excelsior College Credit banking service.The Credit Bank service will list the credits I have earned on an Excelsior College transcript, even though I not enrolled there. This service cost $270. What I will receive from Excelsior is an official transcript from a regionally accredited university that you I submit to the CPA board and WILL count toward your 150 hour requirement.

Once I have 150 credit requirement, I do not care about the work experience anymore. I will go for the state where there is no work experience needed.

Plz let me know what you all think about it. Thanks

Disclaimer: This is not my idea. I just gathered these information by spending almost a day for which I think I am eligible for 3 credit hours. Also, I am trying to make this happen in a legal way abiding with all the rules and regulation set forth by the concern agencies. Nor I am trying to influence anyone in regards to this matter. Plain and simple I am working towards getting certified in a legal and reputable way.

[klmc]

How is this shady and unethical? As long as you the colleges accept the credits and so does the board then why not. In the end you end up saving alot more money than money using these resources than you would if you attend regular classes. I don't think this is a loophole at all, its just a tool you can use if you need generic credits.

The real ethical dilemma is colleges charging people up to $50,000 a year to attend their Universities just so the students graduate with 250k debt and no job.

Anyway, if your state board accepts the credits then by all means go for it.

You can also check out

University of North Alabama's program: Wiley CPAexcel

|FAR| - 72, 83
|AUD| - 73, 76
|REG| - 76
|BEC| - 73, 82

ALL DONE!!

[Anonymous]

If there are no requirements as to which the extra credits have to be in to reach 150 (which there is not), then I say take a few cheap classes at the local community college or do it online/CLEP as you wanted to. I think it's ridiculous that we need 150 credits, with no further specifications. I finished my bachelor's degree with 134 credits, so now I am taking a few filler classes like Spanish and Psychology to complete my 150. Interesting classes, but they are really not going to help me in the accounting field.

[Anonymous]

I graduated from one of Excelsior's sister schools, so if anyone currently on here has concerns about it being “shady” or “unethical”, I'd be happy to clear up some of the confusion, but won't address 2-year-old posts in detail. In passing, though, CLEP is done by the CollegeBoard who also administers AP exams and the CLEPs are similar in many ways. Like with AP courses, your college has to grant you credit for them, but the CollegeBoard provides the standardized test (which is recommended for credit by the Amercian Council on Education) for the college to use to evaluate your knowledge.

I finished my Bachelor's with 123 credits, took 3 credits additional accounting, and the rest CLEPs and other cheap-or-cheaper options. It's fully legal, but smarter than wasting another $15-30k on a year's tuition.

[Author]

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