Author Topic: Associate's degree in business?  (Read 5129 times)

biotechgirl

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Associate's degree in business?
« on: August 30, 2014, 07:50:05 PM »
Hello fellow Mustachians! I'm currently pursuing a general business degree at a community college. I would like to work in finance or something similar. My question is, would a two year degree be enough to get my foot in the door? I've heard that this is a competitive industry. Or should I continue to a four year degree even though it'll cost more? I currently pay about 6k a year, a state school would be around 16-20K (living on campus). My parents make a combined income of 80K, but are antimustachian so I have to take out loans and I don't qualify for financial aid. I'll be starting a part time job in about two weeks and I plan on saving that for future expenses. Any advice is welcome and please let me know if more details are needed. :-)


thedayisbrave

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Re: Associate's degree in business?
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2014, 09:03:55 PM »
Honestly you'll need at least a Bachelor's.  Finance/Accounting would probably be best, though Economics could be applicable too (as long as you are sure this is the career field you want to get into).  I have a Master's in a business-related field (but not finance oriented) and I managed to get a job in finance though not on Wall Street mind you.  Their education requirement was a Bachelors in any field.  So it can be done... but I don't think an Associate's holds much weight at all unfortunately.

Definitely go to a community college for the first two years and just knock out your general education requirements there... then apply to transfer to a public/state school nearby for the last two years to finish up your degrees.  You'll save money that way.  And if you keep working during summers and part-time during the year, you could definitely reduce the amount of loans needed.

Beric01

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Re: Associate's degree in business?
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2014, 09:14:40 PM »
I actually have an associate's in business, though I have a bachelor's too. An associate's is good in a more practical skill (like nursing, auto mechanic, etc), but for business not so much. Only thing I can see is something accounting-based.

What I did was get an associate's, and transferred to a 4-year state school (so cheaper) for the last 2 years to get my bachelor's. Still not cheap, but much better than spending all 4 years at a university. IMO it's going to be worth it, particularly for a field like finance. You will pay off your degree within 3 years if you find a good company.

biotechgirl

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Re: Associate's degree in business?
« Reply #4 on: August 31, 2014, 06:02:24 AM »
Okay. Looks like I'll be going on to a four year school after community college. Thanks for the advice!

Rural

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Re: Associate's degree in business?
« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2014, 07:42:57 AM »
For what it's worth, that associate's degree is the baseline to qualify for a management position in the factories around here. It's not a glamorous job, but many of the locals do get an associate degree as a way off the factory line.


Check and see if you can get the associates and also transfer the credits; if you can, that gives you maximum flexibility.

Calvawt

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Re: Associate's degree in business?
« Reply #6 on: August 31, 2014, 08:36:23 AM »
I run a 50 person finance/accounting/billing/payroll depts.  You could get a job as a accounting clerk with an AA, but a staff accountant pretty much requires a bachelor's.  There is a pretty big pay gap between the two.  If you are dedicated and hard working, you could eventually be a staff accountant without a bachelor's (would probably take a couple of years, but you can substitute experience for the bachelor's).

My advice will be to try and get an entry level job and then work with the company to help pay for your bachelor's degree.  If you are a good fit and enthusiastic, the company will think its a no brainer to help you get the 4 year degree!  Good luck with whatever you choose.

BlueHouse

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Re: Associate's degree in business?
« Reply #7 on: August 31, 2014, 09:24:32 AM »
I actually have an associate's in business, though I have a bachelor's too. An associate's is good in a more practical skill (like nursing, auto mechanic, etc), but for business not so much. Only thing I can see is something accounting-based.

What I did was get an associate's, and transferred to a 4-year state school (so cheaper) for the last 2 years to get my bachelor's. Still not cheap, but much better than spending all 4 years at a university. IMO it's going to be worth it, particularly for a field like finance. You will pay off your degree within 3 years if you find a good company.
I honestly didn't even know that an associate's degree was an actual degree.  I thought it was just what everyone got after 2 years of study at university level.  So anytime in the past that I've read that someone had an associate degree, I just thought it meant they never finished school but did at least stick it through long enough to complete two full years of study. 
So no...in my industry (which touches on financial stuff) you need a bachelors and above to be considered to be holding a degree. 

biotechgirl

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Re: Associate's degree in business?
« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2014, 02:56:51 PM »
I live in PA and the state colleges have some sort of agreement with the community colleges to accept 90-100% of the credits. I've been toying with the idea of trying to get an entry level job with an associate's degree and then have them pay for my bachelor's degree. However I'm not sure that would work because I don't feel like there are many opportunities like that near me. However Vanguard's headquarters are only an hour away. I think they have some type of internships that offer a job. I'm not 100% sure what kind of job I want. Maybe a financial planner? Although I don't want to have to aggressively sell.

Joel

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Re: Associate's degree in business?
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2014, 05:59:39 PM »
Associates degrees really only show you got halfway there.