10 Most Affordable Online Bachelor’s in Accounting

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• CUNY Brook­lyn Col­lege is the #1 school for an afford­able online account­ing bach­e­lor’s degree.
• Ensur­ing the pro­gram is accred­it­ed by bod­ies like AACSB or ACBSP is cru­cial for ensur­ing the qual­i­ty of the edu­ca­tion and its recog­ni­tion in the pro­fes­sion­al world.
• Afford­able online bach­e­lor’s pro­grams pre­pare stu­dents for var­i­ous account­ing cer­ti­fi­ca­tions and careers.

When you are look­ing for an afford­able account­ing degree pro­gram, you want to eval­u­ate cost-sav­ing solu­tions that may help with your goals. Afford­able account­ing degrees allow you to improve your skills with­out spend­ing a small for­tune. It is also pos­si­ble to save on an account­ing degree by select­ing an online option. The cheap­est online account­ing degree offers a sim­i­lar edu­ca­tion as an on-cam­pus pro­gram, but it does not have the same cost. In gen­er­al, costs for online pro­grams are low­er when com­pared to on-cam­pus pro­grams due to the for­mat of the program.

A sim­ple way to reduce the cost of a degree is to start out in a com­mu­ni­ty col­lege and then trans­fer your cred­its into a four-year pro­gram or an online pro­gram. You can also con­sid­er a region­al pub­lic col­lege rather than a pri­vate uni­ver­si­ty or a larg­er pub­lic col­lege. By select­ing the school care­ful­ly, you are able to find more afford­able solutions.

Methodology: Ranking the Most Affordable Accounting Degree Programs

For our rank­ing of the most afford­able account­ing degree pro­grams, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter edi­tors includ­ed only accred­it­ed, rep­utable insti­tu­tions. For the actu­al rank­ing, pro­grams are orga­nized accord­ing to the one cru­cial fac­tor — tuition costs, from low­est to highest.

1. CUNY Brooklyn College

CUNY Brook­lyn Col­lege has a BS in Account­ing on-cam­pus pro­gram that cov­ers basic and advanced account­ing the­o­ry. The pro­gram also includes prac­ti­cal expe­ri­ence grad­u­ates can use in real-world sce­nar­ios. It focus­es not only on quan­ti­ta­tive rea­son­ing but also address eth­i­cal rea­son­ing, writ­ten com­mu­ni­ca­tion and crit­i­cal think­ing skills. By gain­ing func­tion­al knowl­edge of account­ing con­cepts through infor­ma­tion lit­er­a­cy, stu­dents who com­plete this afford­able account­ing degree are ready to move into the work­place or con­tin­ue their edu­ca­tion through grad­u­ate stud­ies af

Brook­lyn Col­lege is a pub­lic col­lege with a good rep­u­ta­tion locat­ed in Brook­lyn, New York. Its NYC loca­tion attracts many stu­dents to the area and increas­es the oppor­tu­ni­ties avail­able for grad­u­ates. This large insti­tute has more than 11,142 under­grad­u­ate learn­ers. About 44% of appli­cants are accept­ing, cre­at­ing a mod­er­ate­ly high entry bar­ri­er. Pop­u­lar degrees include Account­ing, Psy­chol­o­gy and Business.

High­light: Accord­ing to niche.com, 79% of stu­dents feel con­fi­dent that they will get a job after grad­u­a­tion. Sta­tis­tics reveal that 87% have a job with­in two years of graduation.

Degree: BS in Account­ing Campus

CUNY Brook­lyn Col­lege BS in Accounting

2. CUNY Baruch College

CUNY Baruch Col­lege has a BBA in Accoun­tan­cy with class­es stu­dents attend on cam­pus. The major pre­pares learn­ers for jobs in account­ing and finance at non­prof­it agen­cies or local, state or fed­er­al gov­ern­ments, as well as pri­vate cor­po­ra­tions. Those who com­plete the course­work suc­cess­ful­ly receive a well-round­ed edu­ca­tion and a foun­da­tion in busi­ness prac­tices. This afford­able account­ing degree pro­vides stu­dents with an under­stand­ing of account­ing theory.

Locat­ed in Man­hat­tan, Baruch Col­lege is a rep­utable pub­lic col­lege with more than 11,000 stu­dents enrolled in four-year degrees. The com­pet­i­tive admis­sion rate of 39% makes this one of the tough­est schools to get into. Finance and Account­ing join Mer­chan­dis­ing and Buy­ing Oper­a­tions among the top majors at Baruch.

High­light: Baruch has excel­lent rat­ings for aca­d­e­mics, val­ue for mon­ey and diver­si­ty, mean­ing grad­u­ates leave with a respect­ed degree and expo­sure to dif­fer­ent cul­tures and backgrounds.

Degree: BBA in Accoun­tan­cy Campus

CUNY Baruch Col­lege BBA in Accountancy

3. Athens State University

The BS Account­ing Online and Cam­pus pro­gram at Athens State Uni­ver­si­ty includes dig­i­tal and brick-and-mor­tar course offer­ings. The only ver­sion is just as rig­or­ous as the cam­pus option. It’s just a mat­ter of where stu­dents want to do the work. Com­pre­hen­sive tech­nol­o­gy, skilled fac­ul­ty and record­ed lec­tures facil­i­tate stu­dent learn­ing and help set learn­ers up for suc­cess. Stu­dent who fin­ish the Account­ing degree qual­i­fy to sit for the Cer­ti­fied Pub­lic Accoun­tant (CPA) Exam in Alaba­ma. The afford­able account­ing degree also pre­pares those who wish to become a Cer­ti­fied Fraud Exam­in­er (CFE), Cer­ti­fied Man­age­ment Accoun­tant (CMA) and oth­er certifications.

Based in Athens, Alaba­ma, Athens State is a pub­lic access school in the Huntsville Area. The small uni­ver­si­ty has just over 1,200 under­grad­u­ate enrollees. Pop­u­lar majors include Ele­men­tary Edu­ca­tion, Busi­ness, and Account­ing. The major­i­ty of stu­dents agree that pro­fes­sor put in a lot of time to pre­pare for class­es. Stu­dents also feel the course­work is man­age­able and that they can get the class­es they need.

High­light: The cam­pus ranks among the top 10 of the safe col­leges in the Unit­ed States.

Degree: BS Account­ing Online and Campus

4. University of Washington

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton has a BABA in Account­ing with on-cam­pus class­es. Stu­dents can design their own track by choos­ing a vari­ety of upper-divi­sion busi­ness elec­tives. Learn­ers who wish to make a for­mal option, such as account­ing can fast track their account­ing and finance careers. Oth­er busi­ness majors include Entre­pre­neur­ship, Finance, Man­age­ment, Infor­ma­tion Sys­tems, and Oper­a­tions and Sup­ply Chain Man­age­ment. This afford­able account­ing degree offers a lot of flex­i­bil­i­ty for stu­dents who are inter­est­ed in account­ing but aren’t sure where they want to con­cen­trate their studies.

UW is known as an above-aver­age pub­lic school in the Seat­tle Area. It’s a small uni­ver­si­ty with about 4,000 under­grad­u­ates and a high accept­able rate. Pop­u­lar majors include Nurs­ing, Infor­ma­tion Sci­ence, and Psychology.

High­light: With an accep­tance rate of 86%, Wash­ing­ton is high­ly acces­si­ble to most appli­cants, which enables more stu­dents to obtain a bach­e­lor’s degree.

Degree: BABA in Account­ing Campus

Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton BABA in Accounting

5. University of South Florida

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South Flori­da has a BA or BS in Account­ing pro­gram for on-cam­pus learn­ing. The cur­ricu­lum pro­vides rich oppor­tu­ni­ties to mas­ter the­o­ry and prac­tice. Account­ing stu­dents have access to intern­ships, coop­er­a­tive edu­ca­tion and part-time work that gives them rel­e­vant expe­ri­ence toward their career goals. Study abroad oppor­tu­ni­ties for enrollees in this afford­able account­ing degree can trans­form the way stu­dents see the world and approach problem-solving.

South Flori­da is a high­ly rat­ed pub­lic school in Tam­pa, Flori­da. More than 24,000 under­grad­u­ate stu­dents attend SFC. Less than half of the appli­cants are accept­ed into the pro­gram. The school seems to do a great job of select­ing appli­cants as 73% of stu­dents fin­ish their degree here. The school received A rat­ings in aca­d­e­mics, cam­pus life, val­ue for mon­ey and diversity.

High­light: USF is ranked third among pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties in Flori­da. This affords grad­u­ates a top-rat­ed degree and com­pet­i­tive advan­tage over can­di­dates from low-rank­ing schools.

Degree: BA or BS in Account­ing Campus

Uni­ver­si­ty of South Flori­da BA or BS in Accounting

6. Fort Hays State University

Fort Hays State Uni­ver­si­ty has an Account­ing Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion with both online and cam­pus options. The account­ing degree pre­pares learn­ers for demand­ing careers in the pri­vate and pub­lic sec­tors. Stu­dents often pur­sue jobs in finance, audit­ing, gov­ern­ment, tax, cost and account­ing sys­tems. After com­plet­ing this degree, grad­u­ates are ready for entry-lev­el account­ing jobs and will have the skills to com­mu­ni­cate account­ing infor­ma­tion to stake­hold­ers. This afford­able account­ing degree also gives stu­dents expo­sure to account­ing applications.

Fort Hays State is locat­ed in Hays, Kansas and is an above-aver­age pub­lic col­lege. The school has near­ly 6,000 under­grad­u­ate stu­dents. The gen­er­ous accep­tance rate of 92% gives plen­ty of stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to get their account­ing degree online or through tra­di­tion­al on-cam­pus class­es. Besides Busi­ness, pop­u­lar majors include Lib­er­al Arts and Humanities.

High­light: Fort Hays is ranked in the top 30 online col­leges, ensur­ing stu­dents that they will get a qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion no mat­ter which pro­gram they pursue.

Degree: Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion Degree with a Major in Account­ing Online and Campus

Fort Hays State Uni­ver­si­ty Account­ing BBA

7. Indiana University

Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty has a BS in Account­ing for on-cam­pus stu­dents. The degree cov­ers a range of top­ics such as tax­a­tion, audit­ing and sys­tems man­age­ment. Account­ing majors learn to com­mu­ni­cate effec­tive­ly in both writ­ten and oral for­mats. The high­ly struc­tured cur­ricu­lum pre­pares grad­u­ates to meet the com­plex needs of a pri­vate or pub­lic orga­ni­za­tion. This afford­able account­ing degree is great prepa­ra­tion for an MBA or CPA.

Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty has an accep­tance rate of 81%, leav­ing ample oppor­tu­ni­ty for moti­vat­ed appli­cants to suc­ceed. There’s a high avail­abil­i­ty of finan­cial aid for qual­i­fy­ing stu­dents, and 88% of stu­dents receive some form of mon­e­tary assis­tance such as loans or grants. Fac­ul­ty mem­bers received an 83% approval rat­ing for their class preparedness.

High­light: Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty does­n’t require SAT/ACT scores, although the school will con­sid­er it if sub­mit­ted. This gives strong can­di­dates who did poor­ly on the stan­dard­ized tests to seek a high-qual­i­ty degree.

Degree: BS in Account­ing Campus

Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Accounting

8. Brigham Young University

Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty has a BS in Account­ing cam­pus-based pro­gram for stu­dents wish­ing to pur­sue a career in finance and relat­ed fields. The pro­gram is set up in a series of cohorts called the junior core struc­ture. This cre­ates a sense of cohe­sion, coor­di­na­tion and suc­cess among the var­i­ous groups of stu­dents. This afford­able account­ing degree was re-imag­ined in 2020 to incor­po­rate com­pe­ten­cies iden­ti­fied by indus­try professionals.

Brigham Young is pri­vate uni­ver­si­ty in Pro­vo, Utah. More than 28,000 under­grad­u­ate stu­dents attend the school and admis­sions are com­pet­i­tive, with 64% of appli­cants mak­ing the cut. Account­ing joins oth­er majors, includ­ing Psy­chol­o­gy and Exer­cise Phys­i­ol­o­gy, among the most pop­u­lar majors on campus.

High­light: BYU is ranked num­ber 4 among con­ser­v­a­tive col­leges and num­ber 4 among Chris­t­ian col­leges in the nation. This could be an ide­al school for stu­dents wish­ing to attend a school that reflects these beliefs.

Degree: BS in Account­ing Campus

Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Accounting

9. Arizona State University

Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty has a BS in Accoun­tan­cy that is avail­able to stu­dents in a tra­di­tion­al cam­pus set­ting. The cur­ricu­lum includes the input of the Pro­fes­sion­al Advi­so­ry Board and aims to mim­ic the real world. Grad­u­ates receive the best pos­si­ble prepa­ra­tion for careers in account­ing. Cours­es include Busi­ness Data­base Con­cepts, Busi­ness Law and Ethics for Man­agers, Busi­ness Project Man­age­ment and Busi­ness Sta­tis­tics. This afford­able account­ing degree gives stu­dents a chance to learn account­ing sys­tems and con­cepts for a well-round­ed edu­ca­tion in accounting.

Ari­zona State is high­ly rat­ed and this pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty is locat­ed in Tempe, Ari­zona. The under­grad­u­ate stu­dent body num­ber over 39,000 strong. Most appli­cants make it through the appli­ca­tion process and the school’s accep­tance rate is 85%. Pop­u­lar majors include Busi­ness, Busi­ness Sup­port Ser­vices and Psychology.

High­light: Ari­zona State receives the high­est marks for cam­pus life, aca­d­e­mics, val­ue for mon­ey and diversity.

Degree: BS in Accoun­tan­cy Campus

Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Accountancy

10. University of Minnesota Crookston

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Min­neso­ta Crook­ston has a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence — Account­ing degree avail­able via online and cam­pus cours­es. This degree pro­gram teach­es stu­dents the basic and advanced meth­ods of account­ing they need to serve future clients. Pre­sent­ing num­bers that fol­low gen­er­al­ly accept­ed account­ing prin­ci­ples and cre­at­ing finan­cial reports for pri­vate and pub­lic orga­ni­za­tions, account­ing grad­u­ates com­plete the course ready to start their careers. This afford­able account­ing degree pro­vides flex­i­bil­i­ty to stu­dents who are jug­gling mul­ti­ple responsibilities.

UMN Crook­ston has a rep­u­ta­tion for sol­id edu­ca­tion and is a pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty in Crook­ston, Min­neso­ta. The small under­grad­u­ate col­lege has just 1,206 stu­dents. Its com­pet­i­tive admis­sions rate is 66%, and Account­ing and Busi­ness are among the most pop­u­lar majors.

High­light: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Min­neso­ta Crook­ston sixth among the best online col­leges in America.

Degree: Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence — Account­ing Online and Campus

Uni­ver­si­ty of Min­neso­ta Crook­ston BS Accounting

Can I Get a Bachelor’s in Accounting for Free?

A ques­tion that may arise when you are look­ing into degree pro­grams is how much does an account­ing degree cost and how can you pay for the degree. While you may find online account­ing cer­tifi­cate cours­es free online or through cer­tain schools, you should be aware that you may have lim­it­ed options for free edu­ca­tion in accounting.

You may not find free online account­ing degree pro­grams; how­ev­er, many schools may offer free cours­es in account­ing through their online pro­grams. The free cred­it hours are usu­al­ly focused on a sin­gle class or a series of class­es, so they may not offer the lev­el of edu­ca­tion you need for a bachelor’s degree. In some cas­es, the class­es may count as cred­it for your degree, but you will want to eval­u­ate the cours­es and clar­i­fy the poten­tial cred­its before you sign up for a class.

A bach­e­lor of sci­ence in account­ing from a school with accred­i­ta­tion from the Accred­i­ta­tion Coun­cil for Busi­ness Schools and Pro­grams (ACBSP) or AACSB or will not be free. A free online bach­e­lor of busi­ness admin­is­tra­tion will not pre­pare you for the CPA exam or licen­sure. But by using gen­er­al edu­ca­tion trans­fer cred­its from an asso­ciate degree, choos­ing asyn­chro­nous pro­grams, and using online learn­ing to its max­i­mum poten­tial, you can reduce your finan­cial aid and tuition rates significantly.

You’ll learn fun­da­men­tals like how to write up finan­cial state­ments. Some spe­cial­iza­tions and account­ing cours­es you will take in an online bachelor’s degree pro­gram may include:

• man­age­r­i­al accounting
• finan­cial accounting
• cost account­ing
• foren­sic accounting
• tax account­ing
• account­ing infor­ma­tion systems
• income tax
• book­keep­ing
• busi­ness finance
• inter­me­di­ate accounting

An afford­able online account­ing degree can open up a career path with incred­i­ble poten­tial. Account­ing pro­fes­sion­als in the account­ing field include bud­get ana­lyst, finan­cial ana­lyst, and inter­nal auditor.

Enroll­ment for out-of-state stu­dents may be dif­fer­ent than in-state, but often an online bach­e­lor of sci­ence pro­gram will cost the same for both. Full-time online stu­dents can also go on to a master’s degree and often take grad­u­ate online cours­es dur­ing their bachelor’s programs.

What Kinds of Jobs Can I Get with a Bachelor’s in Accounting?

After grad­u­at­ing with a bachelor’s degree in account­ing, you may want to find out more about entry-lev­el account­ing jobs. While careers in account­ing and finance are an obvi­ous choice for your degree, you may find that alter­na­tive options are a bet­ter fit for your inter­ests and goals.

Account­ing job list­ings are not lim­it­ed to work­ing as an accoun­tant. You may find that the account­ing jobs descrip­tions in some com­pa­nies empha­size spe­cial­ized skills rather than account­ing. For exam­ple, an account­ing jobs list may includ­ing audit­ing posi­tions, invest­ment bank­ing jobs, or work as a finan­cial manager.

What are some entry-lev­el account­ing jobs that do not focus on account­ing? Careers in the finance indus­try are a good place to start look­ing for the best entry-lev­el account­ing jobs with a focus on alter­na­tive top­ics. You can also find lead­er­ship posi­tions by empha­siz­ing the man­age­ment track for your long-term goals. BBA in account­ing jobs may focus on lead­er­ship posi­tions in man­age­ment that lead to more lucra­tive posi­tions as a chief finan­cial offi­cer as you gain expe­ri­ence and training.

The best jobs with an account­ing degree depend on your inter­ests and goals. When you pre­fer to focus on a man­age­ment posi­tion and empha­size lead­er­ship skills, you may find that many com­pa­nies are will­ing to con­sid­er your edu­ca­tion as a crit­i­cal part of your qual­i­fi­ca­tions. You can also work in tra­di­tion­al account­ing posi­tions as an accoun­tant or an assis­tant to an accoun­tant. For indi­vid­u­als who pre­fer to work in more fast-paced envi­ron­ments, tak­ing on roles in the finan­cial ser­vices indus­try may offer an alter­na­tive that helps with long-term goals.

How Much Can I Make with a Bachelor’s in Accounting?

When it comes to entry-lev­el account­ing salary poten­tial, you will want to keep in mind that many fac­tors may impact actu­al income lev­els. Account­ing jobs salary when you fin­ish your bachelor’s degree and start in a new posi­tion may depend on your loca­tion, state aver­ages for income, and relat­ed factors.

Accord­ing to the Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics, the aver­age BS in account­ing salary for entry-lev­el posi­tions is around $55,700 per year. Some loca­tions may have a low­er bach­e­lor degree in account­ing salary due to a low­er cost of liv­ing or relat­ed fac­tors. Oth­er loca­tions may offer a slight­ly high­er salary due to the high­er costs of liv­ing. The account­ing careers salary range is between $39,000 and $74,000 per year for new graduates.

Since you will want to eval­u­ate the entry-lev­el account­ing jobs salary, pay atten­tion to the lev­el of expe­ri­ence required for a posi­tion. As a gen­er­al rule, salary poten­tial increas­es as you gain expe­ri­ence as an accoun­tant. You can also expect salary expec­ta­tions to rise if you get a high­er lev­el of edu­ca­tion or gain spe­cial­ized skills. In the ear­ly stages of your career, low­er salary expec­ta­tions are a nor­mal part of start­ing your career. Pay atten­tion to the salary poten­tial in a posi­tion when you are apply­ing for a new job to clar­i­fy the income poten­tial and help with nego­ti­a­tions when you are talk­ing to poten­tial employers.

Relat­ed Rankings: 

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Accounting

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Accounting

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Accounting