Comments on: How To Avoid $40K In Student Loan Debt & Become A CPA

By: Joshua

Joshua — Wed, 27 May 2015 13:01:00 +0000

Do you know which universities allow you to take grad level classes while not seeking a degree? Most I have looked at require you to be degree seeking. I need roughly 20 hours for my education requirement.

By: TheBeanCountercom

TheBeanCountercom — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 16:03:00 +0000

I did the same thing. But I plan to be out of my $55k in debt any day now (3 years after starting payments!) With your starting salary, you should be able to knock out $32K in no time!

By: Nathan Sims

Nathan Sims — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 14:35:00 +0000

Feeling abysmal after reading this advice piece. I graduated with 32k of debt, MSA & BBA combined. I do feel like the CPA license trumps graduate degree. I guess I should have considered getting the credit hours alone. Hindsight.

By: TheBeanCountercom

TheBeanCountercom — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 01:34:00 +0000

Thanks for the comment Alex! If you can do a graduate assistant position and the degree is important to you, go for it! I’ve got no problem with that at all. If you need an additional 30 hours and the masters is only a few more hours (and free), I would definitely do that.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 01:08:00 +0000

Thank you for your response yesterday, one other quick question. I understand that you really push for students to stay debt free at an early age and we all know that grad school is expensive. What if you decide to become a graduate assistant (GA) full time and get your grad school completely paid for on top of a monthly check to pay for your monthly expenses. I’m sure a lot of people are in the same boat as me but I need about 30 more credit hours to complete my 150 and if I did grad school it would push me over the edge and I would be completely debt free even with a masters degree in accounting. Thoughts on just getting the 150 from general classes or becoming a GA and getting my grad school paid for? Thanks a lot!

By: TheBeanCountercom

TheBeanCountercom — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 01:34:00 +0000

Alex – great question! In public accounting firms, that is rarely the case. You may on occasion have a firm that wants the managing partner of the office or region to have an MBA, but it’s not required. Take Bob Moritz for example (PwC CEO), he only has a Bachelors.
In private, it varies widely by company. There are *some* companies that will require it but if they do, they will almost always pay for it as well. You can take Saturday or night classes. Heck nowadays I’m sure there are even remote MBAs you can take online. Either way, at this early stage of life its important to stay out of debt. Once you have some savings or get the company to pay, get the MBA.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 19:33:00 +0000

From talking with a lot of management at public / private accounting firms, in order to move up in within the company, you would not only need your CPA but a graduate level degree. Thoughts on this? Agree / Disagree?

By: TheBeanCountercom

TheBeanCountercom — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 00:08:00 +0000

Good for you Nathan! Keep me posted on your progress, I want to know when it’s paid off!

By: Nathan

Nathan — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 18:37:00 +0000

Best advice ever. “next year sets the tone for the rest of your life.” I’m throwing as much cash as possible at my loan. I’m not going to be the guy who has a net worth of zero or less than zero forever.

By: Dee

Dee — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 18:09:00 +0000

I totally agree