Crabbing: Tenure tract is difficult to get, if they still offer it in some universities. Spending five years at your age (sorry) for a degree just to get paid as much as an average joe seems wasteful.

Five years more business experience is far better than five years of studying/researching. Why not start a bookkeeping practice as well as a tax practice instead? I've seen an ad that was posted by a CPA I know, he doesn't pay much but the experience working in his office is invaluable. He admitted in the ad that he would drive you into the ground, so you could think of it as an internship. The main topics to learn are individual, corp (s and c corp, llc), partnership, and payroll. corps are the most profitable if you're already doing their bookkeeping. No 45 minute appointments with individual clients plus 15 minutes finalizing the return only to get $200-$400 instead of $1,200 corp plus monthly bookkeeping fees.

newguy: Call USC's masters admission and ask them if firms recruit after graduation, if you are the age they are looking for, and any other questions you might have. Better to ask your chances before than after you make that expensive investment.

I'm glad I asked them because I would've been aged out since the recruiters hire young twenty-somethings for entry-level jobs. I'm grateful that they were honest (as well as tactful) and realistic than for me to have spent $42,000 for nothing.