Insights from the Girard School of Business
Earning a master’s degree in accounting online can boost your chances of earning a promotion and better pay preparing you to take on strategic leadership roles. Earning the degree online offers unparalleled convenience and flexibility with the ability to learn at one’s own pace with supportive services designed specifically for distance learners.
Online learning simply makes sense for many working professionals. It’s an attractive option for those interested in earning their advanced degree while continuing in their current career – especially those with the ambition to take on leadership roles in the accounting profession.
The Advantages of Online Learning
Online degrees have achieved the same academic status and educational quality as traditional, on-campus programs. Of course, the convenience factor of distance learning has always been there, and improvements in technology have made the online learning experience better than ever.
Flexibility
Earning a master’s degree in accounting online is a smart choice for many working professionals. That’s primarily because they can work their education around other obligations and responsibilities.
Online programs allow students to experience instructor recorded lectures, complete their coursework and communicate with other students and professors from anywhere with a reliable internet connection. They can complete their coursework from the comfort of their own home, and don’t have to spend time driving to and from campus.
Online learning also opens the possibility of attending a school far from home, or at least beyond a reasonable driving distance. Merrimack College, for example, attracts students from the Boston metropolitan area and the state of Massachusetts, as well as from across the country and around the world.
Accelerated Learning
Using the Merrimack College master’s program as an example, a student can earn a master’s degree in as little as 16 months. Each course is either four weeks long (two credits) or eight weeks long (four credits). The entire program requires earning 32 credits.
Students can take as long as five years to complete the program if that works best for their lives. Classes start at six different times throughout the calendar year, allowing students to enter the program when it’s most convenient for them. Even students who did not study accounting at the undergraduate level can enter the program. There are foundational accounting courses online for those who don’t hold an accounting bachelor’s degree.
Online Program Services
Merrimack College offers a good example of how technological advances and attention to detail have made services for online learners better than ever. It’s the kind of “high touch” service that online students should expect.
Merrimack assigns each student an academic and career advisor. That advisor meets with the student one-on-one to determine the best curriculum plan to suit their needs, ensure that proper academic progress is being made, counsel students on when they should take the CPA exam, offer career planning assistance, and help students stay on track to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.
In short, an advisor is with a student on every step of the journey to earn a master’s degree in accounting online. This is especially important for students who have been away from school for a long time and might have some anxiety about getting back into school, especially via an online learning platform.
Online learning has opened the door for more people than ever to achieve their academic goals and earn a master’s degree in the accounting field. Find out more about earning a degree online at Merrimack College.