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Curriculum

Master’s in Accounting Curriculum

Earn 12-15 credits in one of four specialized Master’s in Accounting concentrations: taxation, public and corporate accounting, transaction services, or information systems. Then choose 15 credits, nine of which must be in courses outside of accounting, from our comprehensive list of courses.

You must complete at least 24 credits at the 800-level and you must earn a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade-point average to receive your M.S. degree.

Students without an undergraduate degree in accounting may be required to take prerequisite business and accounting courses in addition to the 30-credit M.S. program of study.

Please refer to our descriptions of specialized accounting concentrations, course requirements, and elective courses below.

For additional course information, please refer to the M.S. in Accounting Course Scheduling Guide.

A description of all available courses can be found through the Office of the Registrar’s Description of Courses, while times and locations can be found through the Schedule of Courses.

Taxation (TAX) Concentration

If you plan to focus your career on taxation, this option is for you. Graduates with this option often work for CPA firms as taxation specialists. Opportunities in corporate tax departments, the Internal Revenue Service, state and local tax authorities, bank trust departments, and financial planning firms are also available.

Required course(s):

Public and Corporate Accounting (PCA) Concentration

If you plan to begin your career in auditing with a CPA firm or as an internal auditor in industry, you should select this option. It is also the best option if you are interested in corporate accounting, in which you primarily plan or prepare financial statements and deal with other financial accounting issues.

Please choose (4) from the following:

Transaction Services (TS) Concentration

Required courses:

Information Systems (IS) Concentration

If you plan to focus your career on computer technology and other information systems issues, you should choose this option. Graduates with this option often work for CPA firms as consultants or as computer audit specialists. There are also many opportunities in industry and government.

MSU undergraduate accounting majors

With the exception of ACC 821, choose 4 of the courses listed for the concentration below.

Non-MSU undergraduate accounting majors

ACC 821 is a required course. Select (4) additional courses from the following:

Professional Licensure and Certification

Federal regulations require MSU to publicly disclose, for each educational program designed to meet the educational requirements for a specific professional license or certification required for employment in an occupation (or advertised as meeting those requirements), information about whether program completion would meet those requirements in a state. These public disclosure requirements apply to all programs, regardless of their modality (i.e., on-ground, online, and hybrid programs). MSU discloses the required information for its Bachelor of Arts with a major in Accounting and Master of Science in Accounting on page 17 of this table at the Office of the Registrar website.

All current and prospective students are encouraged to contact the applicable professional licensure/certification boards in their respective states for additional information regarding professional licensure/certification requirements, including, without limitation, information regarding any non-educational requirements (such as work experience, background clearance, or examination by outside entities, such as the CPA examination).

The information in the table should not be construed as guaranteeing that any particular professional licensure/certification authority will approve a student’s application; nor should the information in the table be read to imply that other requirements for professional licensure/certification do not exist or that other requirements for professional licensure/certification have been determined to have been met by MSU’s program/course, or that any necessary approvals for clinical or other experiential learning placements are secured by virtue of a student’s enrollment at MSU.

State professional licensure/certification requirements are subject to change at any time.

For licensing board contact information, please see www.thiswaytocpa.com/licensure/state-requirements.

If you need assistance or have any questions, please contact your academic advisor.

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