A Master of Business Administration in Accounting degree can prepare you for a variety of lucrative positions from financial manager, business development manager or corporate controller to chief financial officer. Salaries for many of these positions start at six figures, so you might expect the academic “cost of admission” to be fairly steep. You might also expect to have to make other sacrifices, such as enrolling in an on-campus program, attending for two or more years, settling for a general MBA rather than an accounting specialization or paying a list of additional fees that could derail your financial plans.
You may find, however, that not all graduate degree programs are the same, and one, in particular, may be the best match for you, your schedule and your finances.
Comparing MBA Programs
Here we’ll look at the Pittsburg State University online Master of Business Administration in Accounting to see how it compares with other programs you may be considering in the state of Kansas. The Pittsburg State program is designed specifically for working professionals who want to expand their accounting knowledge and take on accounting leadership roles. To that end, the curriculum pairs core MBA business courses with emphasis courses in Financial Statement Analysis, Financial Statement Auditing/Seminar in Auditing, and Tax Research/Seminar in Tax.
Pittsburg State University’s program is offered by the Kelce College of Business, accredited by the globally recognized and reputable Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International). AACSB-accredited schools are considered the best business schools in the world with “better programs, better faculty, better students with higher overall GPAs, more international students, more employers that recruit from them and graduates that receive better salaries.” AACSB accreditation is your assurance of a quality, up-to-date education that employers will value, both now and into the future.
Total tuition for the Pittsburg State online MBA program is under $15,000, and the program can be completed in as few as 12 months. The accelerated online format offers working professionals the flexibility they need to balance their careers and personal obligations with academics as well as a faster path to earning a degree, valued by professionals and their prospective employers.
Kansas State University offers a professional MBA online, accredited by AACSB. Coursework includes Foundations of Accounting, Economic Analysis for Business and Foundations of Finance. However, the program is a broad-based conventional MBA that does not delve deeply into the study of financial statement auditing, tax research and other areas of accounting specialization.
In addition, KSU imposes a distance fee of $67 per credit hour and a $65 per credit hour faculty surcharge. The maximum total tuition of $30,000 is nearly double that of the Pittsburg State program.
Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, offers a specialized MBA with an accounting emphasis comparable to the program at Pittsburg State. The emphasis courses cover similar material in preparing graduates for leadership positions in finance and accounting.
Unfortunately, the program is available only on campus, which makes it inconvenient for candidates who do not live in the vicinity. The program is affordable for in-state students, but the business school is not AACSB-accredited.
The University of Saint Mary offers an on-campus MBA with an accounting specialization. The 36-credit program is sequenced to allow completion in 24 months, but can be completed in one year on a heavier schedule. USM offers a number of specialized MBA programs online, but none with an accounting focus. These MBA programs are also not AACSB-accredited.
The Value of an MBA From Pittsburg State
Graduates of Pittsburg State’s online MBA in Accounting program are prepared to hit the ground running in accounting leadership positions. The program is affordable and flexible, giving more working professionals the opportunity to complete the training they need to reach their career goals, both quickly and conveniently.
Learn more about Pittsburg State University’s online MBA in Accounting program.
Sources:
PayScale: MBA Accounting & Finance Degree
AACSB: Why AACSB Accreditation Matters to Students
Kansas State University Professional MBA Online
KSU Global Campus Tuition & Fee Schedule
Fort Hays State University Accounting MBA
Fort Hays State University Tuition and Fees Schedule