Finance and Accounting Degree Programs at Northampton County Area Community College
Northampton County Area Community College appears in our ranking of the Top 50 Best Associates in Accounting Online.
Northampton County Area Community College offers both an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) and a specialized diploma in accounting. Both of these programs give students a course map that lets them see what classes they need to take and when the college recommends that they take each one. The AAS program may include some developmental education courses such as Introduction to Academic Literacy and Intermediate Algebra for students who do not have a strong academic background. They’ll also take Introduction to Computers, Financial Accounting I and II and Income Tax Accounting.
While the full degree program includes more than 60 credits of classes, the specialized diploma program features only 31 credits. The college designed this program for students who want to learn about accounting principles and work in entry-level positions. It features Principles of Auditing, Managerial Accounting, Business Law I and II and Intermediate Accounting I and II among other courses. There is also a specialized accounting assistant diploma program that helps students become professional accounting assistants. This program includes 18 credits of courses such as Accounting Applications and Personal Finance.
A related specialized diploma program in computer forensic analyst program is available that trains students on how to use accounting principles as they investigate online and computer crimes. This program takes 40 weeks to complete and asks students to spend 10 months doing an internship with Homeland Security Investigations. Students get credit towards their degrees through this fieldwork. Majors in the forensics program also take classes that include Criminal Law, American Legal System, and PC Support and Troubleshooting. While half their classes relate to criminal justice, the other half relates to investigation techniques and computer science.
Also available is a two-year Associate of Arts (AA) in Business Administration. It includes 63 credits of courses in business, management, marketing, accounting, and finance. Students learn how to handle the accounting needs of an organization, including the best ways to budget for the quarter and how to finance a business. Majors take classes that include Microeconomics, Principles of Marketing and Financial Accounting I and II. Through the college’s AAS in Business Management program, students can look at accounting principles as they learn how to manage others and organize a business’s needs. This two-year program includes Principles of Marketing, Business Communication, Human Resource Management and Macroeconomics among its required courses.
About Northampton County Area Community College
Northampton County Area Community College is a community college often called Northampton. During the 1960s, business owners and teachers in the area began calling for the foundation of a new college that would train students to work for local businesses. This led to the eventual establishment of the college in 1967 with eight classrooms and space for hundreds of students. Enrollment far exceeded the original estimates of 450 as more than 800 students applied. The college would slowly build its campus to make room for those students, adding both classroom space and administrative buildings. Northampton County, Pennsylvania is home to the college’s main campus, which is in Bethlehem Township. A second and equally large campus is in Monroe County, but the college also offers classes on the satellite campuses in Hawley and Bethlehem. Northampton has an enrollment across all campuses of more than 34,000 students.
Northampton County Area Community College Accreditation Details
Students who take just a few classes at Northampton County Area Community College and those who earn an associate’s degree can transfer most or all of their credits to a four-year college or university. This is because of the regional accreditation held by the college, which comes from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Students can use the MSCHE accreditation to transfer credits to Northampton from a different school too and to use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which lets them get all the financial aid they might need.
Northampton County Area Community College Application Requirements
A PDF application is available from Northampton for students who want to apply by mail. All other students can use the online application. It usually takes less than an hour to apply, but students who need more time can save their work and return to the application later. The college requires that students save their login information on the site. They will then need to complete the FAFSA and submit their transcripts. Northampton accepts college and university transcripts from transfer students and high school transcripts from others.
While the college uses transcripts to make sure students are ready for advanced study, it requires an ACT or SAT score before it will place students in their classes. Students with a low score and those who do not provide one need to take an on-campus placement test. The college will notify them of the prerequisites they need to take and where they will start in specific subject areas. They can then attend a registration event and sign up for their classes. The college has counselors available to assist incoming students who need help.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Northampton charges a full-time tuition rate of $2,265 per semester for students from Northampton County. This includes their tuition as well as their technology and comprehensive fees. Students from Monroe County pay $2,580 per semester, while students from other counties in Pennsylvania pay $3,210 each semester. The college also offers a nonresident rate for students who are not from Pennsylvania of $7,230 a semester. Students who qualify for the dual enrollment program pay between $100 and $150 per credit hour based on the locations of their high schools.
Scholarships are just one type of financial aid that the college offers for students in need. Those prizes go to students who have high test scores and good grades as well as those who come from families with a low household income. Some grants go to students based on the information they shared on the FAFSA, including a Pell grant of $5,000 or more. Students can combine their grants and scholarship with work-study and loans too. They can borrow thousands of dollars every year and are not required to repay their loans until they’re out of school for at least six months. Both Pennsylvania residents and non-residents in the finance and accounting programs at Northampton County Area Community College can get financial aid.
