Meet Flavia Jones. She’s a student in the Master’s of Accounting (iMSA) program from Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Flavia works at the AT&T headquarters in Dallas, Texas. She discovered Coursera through AT&T University, which encourages employees to develop skills and advance their career with online courses.
Flavia got started on Coursera by taking massive open online courses (MOOCs), and she’s continued to learn through her master’s program from Gies. This is her story.
Starting With Open Courses
Flavia already had her associate’s and bachelor’s in accounting, but she wanted to refresh her accounting knowledge and learn more about data analytics for accounting. Through AT&T University, Flavia soon found an introductory Coursera Specialization with open courses taught by Professor Ron Guymon. She liked the courses and noticed Professor Guymon was teaching from UIUC. Moving forward, she always kept UIUC in mind for when she would eventually pursue her master’s.
Choosing the iMSA from Gies
As Flavia was searching for a master’s program later on, she was seeking a hybrid learning experience that included both live sessions and asynchronous work. She was determined to find a highly ranked school for accounting that offered an affordable program and an engaging experience.
Remembering UIUC, Flavia saw that the iMSA from Gies had weekly live sessions and lower tuition than competitors. With other programs, Flavia would’ve had to take the GMAT exam before applying and attend some classes in person. With the iMSA from Gies, she qualified for a fully online program based on her references and professional experience.
Doing More With MOOCs
Flavia now encourages colleagues who are interested in data analytics for accounting to enroll in a Coursera Specialization with open courses. She says you can get a glimpse of the subject matter and a sense of managing your study time through MOOCs. She also says you can be sure you’re learning from experts who are teaching up-to-date curriculum when you’re on Coursera.
Flavia has even enrolled in additional MOOCs recommended to her by other students, and she’s become a board member of a student organization called the iDegrees Graduate Business Association. Through this organization, she’s able to work with other Gies students on new ideas for MOOCs.
Are you on a path similar to Flavia’s?
Flavia’s story is a powerful example of how individual courses can help you prepare for a degree program. If you’ve been inspired by Flavia, you can check out the iMSA here and explore MOOCs from UIUC here.