CPCU - Advice

[BHoh]

This looks like an older thread but after reading the posts I created an account because I wanted to add my thoughts.

I'm 35 years old and I have worked as an underwriting assistant, and then an underwriter, for a small company for the past 11 years and I've accomplished a lot for a high school drop out with a GED. I passed the licensing exam in 2004, and I've earned a relatively obscure niche designation called CRIS, offered by the International Risk Management Institute, in 2006. However, I believe my career options have been severely hampered by my not having a college degree.

So, for the past couple years I have been debating this same issue. A Degree or CPCU designation? After considering all the information, and noticing how it seems like more employers are requiring a 4 year degree to even get your foot in the door, I've personally decided to do both. Why not take advantage of the alliances the Institutes have formed with a number of colleges and let the CPCU studies pull double duty. One of the colleges will give you almost half the credits needed for a bachelor's degree from your CPCU studies. Quite a cost savings. I think it's great that I don't HAVE to choose one or the other...

[joel66]

Do both! I was in the same boat during my thirties. At that time, I recall having over 10 to 12 years of claims adjusting experience, and half of that time in litigation, yet some companies refused to interview me, because a 4-year degree is required.

I personally went with Excelsior College to get my BS in General Business, because they accepted a lot of my SCLA and ins courses from The Institutes, as well as taking CLEP exams. If you have a lot of business experience, it would not make that much of a difference on what school you went to, include is an Ivy league school (as long as regionally accredited).

Ashford is a good school, but make sure to weigh the costs. I think you need to take at least 10 classes at Ashford (residency requirement) at around $1,350 per course. With all schools, find out who many units you will need, and if you can transfer in CLEP, DSST, community college credits to keep the costs down. That is why I went to Excelsior, because I had lot of flexibility to take outside courses to keep my costs down.

I can't believe how time goes by so fast. I obtained my BS in Business back on August 2009 and completing my MBA this December and didn't not start school until I was 40 years of age (Jan 2007).

Here is a post I made after I graduated and my reason why I did both, and continued pushing forward after I obtained the CPCU and business degree http://joelomas02.wordpress.com/2009/09/13/importance-of-education/

[BHoh]

Joel, thanks for the thoughts and the link. Good article. I was planning to getting my BS in Business with a concentration in Risk Management and Insurance through Excelsior as well. How did you like Excelsior? Did you take advantage of of the prior learning assessment or ECE's offered by the college for credit?

I personally have taken a significant amount of secondary education courses and earned multiple certifications but none of it seems to be eligible for college credit.

Back in 2000, before I got started in the insurance business I took a course in Drafting with AutoCAD which I completed but it was just for a diploma. Then I went on to get my insurance license and CRIS designation. Then in 2007 I joined a volunteer fire department and earned my Firefighter I and Firefighter II national certifications, my EMT-basic certification, Basic Vehicle Rescue Tech certifcation and Hazardous Materials Operations national certification. It sure would be nice to get some credit for all that.

[joel66]

It is possible that some of your Firefighter certifications can be applied toward elective credits. I did not do any of the prior learning assessment, because I had completed some college courses while in the Army during the mid to late eighties, as well as 21 credits was applied from my SCLA designation.

I started my path toward my degree when my previous employer paid for my SLCA courses in January 2007. After I completed those courses around July 2007 is when I started with Excelsior. Those courses covered business law and other business electives and some upper division courses. After I completed my SCLA, I was able to complete my CPCU at a faster pace because there was some overlap between the two.

If you want to obtain a concentration in Risk Management & Ins, you will need to complete your ARM designation, as Excelsior College requires those courses to be applied toward that concentration. I had not completed my ARM until after I completed my CPCU, so I got the general business concentration.

I really enjoyed Excelsior, because they were very flexible on what courses to accept and did not have the 30 credit residency requirement that most schools required. This allowed me to take more CLEP and insurance courses.

[BHoh]

Just wanted to update for anyone who is interested. I've now completed the ethics, CPCU 500 and CPCU 520. It was by no means easy. However, it is doable. As some here have already stated, if you read through the course material and follow the course guide you will be successful.