The mission of the accounting programs in the Department of Accounting is to offer graduate and undergraduate accounting programs of high quality, which meet the needs of students for professional careers in the field. This mission includes providing a broad-based education and education in general business and accounting. The department is responsive to the needs of employers and other constituents of its programs. The department is also alert to the current issues in the local, regional, and national environment and plans and implements changes in the educational process to respond to those issues when needed. The faculty of the accounting program assist in accomplishing this mission through a planned integration of their teaching, intellectual, and service contribution.
The Master of Science in Accounting has been separately accredited by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
The Five-Year Professional Accounting Program is a 3/2 degree program. Undergraduate accounting majors should apply for admission to the program during the second semester of their junior year. Once admitted, these students would be allowed to take graduate courses while, technically, undergraduate students. In this program, the degree plan for the Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) in Accounting is combined with that of the Master of Science in Accounting (M.S.A.). The advantage of the program is that it allows accounting majors to spread the graduate courses required for the M.S.A. degree over the fourth and fifth years of the 150-hour program. Upon successful completion of the 150-hour program, students will be simultaneously awarded the B.B.A. in Accounting and the M.S. in Accounting degrees.
Admission Criteria: To be admitted to the Five-Year (150-Hour) Professional Accounting Program, students must meet the following criteria:
1. be a declared accounting major
2. have an overall grade point average of 3.0, a grade point average of 3.0 in accounting courses taken, and an acceptable score on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)
3. have completed a minimum of 6 semester credit hours of upper-level undergraduate accounting courses including ACC 3023, Intermediate Accounting I.
In addition, the student must have completed at least 12 semester credit hours of upper-level undergraduate accounting courses by the end of the first semester following admission into the program.
The Master of Science in Accounting (M.S.A.) degree is designed to accommodate applicants with a degree in any field. Applicants must complete the equivalent of a B.B.A. degree in accounting from an accredited institution or must enroll in the M.S.A. core courses plus certain accounting courses set out by the Coordinator of Graduate Programs in Accounting. Students whose background is in business but who have completed M.S.A. core courses or their equivalents seven, or more, years before entering the program may be required by the M.S.A. Admissions Committee to successfully complete or test out of the M.S.A. core courses. M.S.A. core courses may be taken simultaneously with the M.S.A. requirements, subject to course prerequisites and approval of the Coordinator of Graduate Programs in Accounting.
Program Admission Requirements. In order to be unconditionally admitted to the M.S.A. program, applicants must meet University-wide graduate admission requirements. In addition, applicants are considered on the basis of demonstrated potential for success in graduate study in accounting and/or taxation as indicated by a combination of prior academic achievement, Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) scores, a personal statement, and other relevant factors.
A completed set of application material will include the following:
Applicants are evaluated by the M.S.A. Admissions Committee based on the above set of application materials. Those who do not meet the requirements for unconditional admission may be considered for admission on a conditional basis. Admission deficiencies, which do not count toward degree requirements, must be removed before enrolling for the last semester before graduation.
The following M.S.A. core courses or their equivalents are required for students with undergraduate curriculum deficiencies; however, no credit for these courses will count toward the M.S.A. degree requirements:
ACC 3023 Intermediate Accounting I
ACC 3033 Intermediate Accounting II
ACC 3043 Federal Income Taxation I
ACC 3113 Accounting Information Systems I
ACC 4013 Principles of Auditing
ACC 5003 Financial Accounting Concepts
ACC 5023 Accounting Analysis for Decision Making
BLW 5003 Legal Environment of Business
ECO 5003 Economic Theory and Policy
FIN 5003 Business Finance
IS 5003 Introduction to Information Systems
MGT 5003 Conceptual Foundations of Management
MKT 5003 Introduction to Marketing
MS 5003 Quantitative Methods for Business Analysis
Degree Requirements. The minimum number of semester credit hours required for this degree, exclusive of coursework or other study required to remove admission deficiencies, is 30 hours.
Table of Contents | Catalog Home | Previous PageAll candidates must complete the following:
A. 9 semester credit hours of required graduate accounting courses:
ACC 5863 Advanced Financial Accounting
ACC 6003 Managerial Accounting Theory
ACC 6013 Financial Accounting Theory
B. 12 semester credit hours of graduate electives in accounting or taxation, approved by the Coordinator of Graduate Programs in Accounting.
C. 9 semester credit hours of graduate nonaccounting electives outside the area of accounting and taxation, approved by the Coordinator of Graduate Programs in Accounting.
All candidates must complete the following:
A. 12 semester credit hours of required graduate tax courses:
ACC 6043 Tax Research
ACC 6073 Advanced Corporate Taxation
ACC 6083 Special Topics in Tax Practice
ACC 6113 Flow Through Entities
B. 9 semester credit hours of graduate taxation or accounting electives, approved by the Coordinator of Graduate Programs in Accounting.
C. 9 semester credit hours of graduate business electives outside the areas of taxation and accounting, approved by the Coordinator of Graduate Programs in Accounting.
This concentration is designed to provide added preparation in management accounting subjects for graduate business students who do not have extensive coursework in accounting.
Students choosing to concentrate in management accounting must complete the 21 semester credit hours of courses containing the foundations of knowledge and 12 semester credit hours as follows:
ACC 5803 Controllership
ACC 5823 Nonprofit and Governmental Accounting
ACC 5833 Cost Management and Control
ACC 5873 Budgeting and Forecasting
This concentration is designed to offer the opportunity for qualified graduate students to study business administration while developing special expertise in taxation. To achieve this end, students can focus their elective courses on developing an understanding of tax problems and opportunities in business planning.
Students choosing to concentrate in taxation must complete the 21 semester credit hours of courses containing the foundations of knowledge and 12 semester credit hours as follows:
ACC 6043 Tax Research
and 9 semester credit hours from the following:
ACC 6053 Estate, Trust, and Gift Taxation
ACC 6073 Advanced Corporate Taxation
ACC 6083 Special Topics in Tax Practice
ACC 6113 Flow Through Entities
2. Admission
3. General Academic Regulations
5. Master's Degree Regulations
6. Doctoral Degree Regulations
7. Graduate Program Requirements and Course Descriptions
Table of ContentsAdditional Resources
Graduate and Undergraduate Catalog Archive
Office of Graduate Studies
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