[HoldMyBeerCPA]

I’m starting an auditing job with a small cpa firm (5 partners, 3 seniors, 10 staff, 2 admins) in July. This firm deals with mostly SEC Reporting clients around the US. I figured that going to school part-time or even full-time for my MAcc would not be optimal, especially during busy season.

With that being said, I’ve taken a look at a couple of online MAcc programs and have come across CSU Sacramento and Southern Utah University. I’m debating on which school to attend as both schools are AASCB accredited and offer a graduate level accounting degree completely online. If all goes well I’d complete the program with 2-3 years of public accounting experience under my belt and would be eligible to then sit for the exams.

Questions:

Does anyone have any knowledge of these programs?

Does anyone have any recommendations on how many graduate courses to take online while working full-time?

Would working in Utah and attending a school in California hurt my chances for employment in the future with the aforementioned experience I have? I have concerns of employers scoffing at attending an online university even though its AASCB accredited.

Thanks in advance.

-Shawn

[MaLoTu]

If you are worried about the online element (which is barely an issue anymore) then take a program that is in your state. Also, make sure that the accounting program is accredited and not just the business program. Here in the bay area, CA, SFSU is AASCB accredited for business, but not for accounting. In the long-run, your experience is going to overshadow any education you earn. Either school should be good.

Masters programs usually involve writing fairly good sized papers and doing extensive projects (I am almost done with my second masters and this has been my experience). I went to school full time and worked 8 hours a day and it was exhausting. You can do it, but I would recommend one class at a time, just for sanity's sake.

[HoldMyBeerCPA]

@MaL: Both schools are AACSB accredited, at least they claim to be. I'm not finding their programs in the AACSB Accredited Program Database (https://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/accredited-members/global-listing.aspx). Is there a reason why online programs aren't listed on the database?

I'll take you up on your recommendation of one class at a time, most likely two because I'd like to stay within a three year timeline.

[MaLoTu]

I called suu and their MAcc program is accredited.

I feel that if you are staying in Utah that you should go with SUU because it is probably more recognizable to your local employers and if you move back to CA the employers probably won't know if you were geographically close to the school or not. Your degree will not specify that it was done online.

[HoldMyBeerCPA]

You didn't have to go all that way, MaL. I do appreciate it. I'll be in Utah for the next year at the very least (if my job isn't the right fit, I'll move westward back to California). I don't foresee any problems so Utah may be my home for the next three years. With that in mind, I will probably go to SUU route.

[Author]

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