What Can I Do With Accounting Degree, Would like advice on accounting degree?

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Q. Hi. I have a degree, but would like to get a second degree in accounting. There seems to be Masters of Accounting degrees and the general Bachelor's degrees in business concentrating on accounting. Is the Master's degree actually worth more than the Bachelor's degree? Because I was thinking of getting the Master's, but I've never seen any accouting job listings asking for the Master's degree. Do they even care or is it a fluff degree some schools offer for "professionals"? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

A. *Most* Masters in accounting these days are offered as "tack-ons" to the end of the Bachelors degree, in order to meet eligibility requirements (more hours than a 4-year degree normally gets) to sit for the CPA exam. If your first degree was not business related, you will probably have to take what are called "stem classes" before enrolling in the courses which actually count towards the Masters degree, which would make the thing take almost as long as a second Bachelors, and probably cost a lot more. I just finished my BBA in Accounting (and MIS). It is my second Bachelors degree, and the first one, which I picked up in 1992, was totally unrelated. Employers want to know that you are eligible to sit for the CPA exam, once you graduate, for a job in public accounting. Check with your state board of accountancy: http://www.nasba.org/nasbaweb.nsf/lp (Click on "site map" and then "Boards of Accountancy") There's also a chart here which offers a higher-level view of requirements to sit for the exam, by state: http://www.nasba.org/NASBAfiles.nsf/3BC653050D2D8FA086256C1B00792FF5/... It doesn't break it down into XYZ number of accounting hours and ABC number of other business hours, so get that from your state board. After reviewing that information, THEN take a look at whether a Masters or Bachelors is the more appealing route, and check with the universities you are interested in, to see if they'd let you jump right in, or make you take stem classes (if you are leaning towards the graduate degree). Not sure about the "mostly" above, but that would be believable. The MBA would still likely be subject to stem courses, so it would put an American student with a non-business undergrad in the same boat. If someone (regardless of whether they are a foreign or American student) just needs the hours to qualify, I'd say pick up the Macc or MPA or whatever. Save the MBA for down the road when you have more experience in the business world, and when an employer can pick up the tab (ideally).

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