The linked bachelor’s – master’s program in accounting allows accepted students to get an early start on their graduate program. Up to nine qualifying 400-level and above credits may be taken at the undergraduate level and tuition rates and applied to the master’s program.
Students interested in pursuing the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license must have 150 credit hours of college/university credit to be eligible for certification. The linked program may not reduce the overall number of credits a student must take, but it can provide a cost savings to the student, allowing up to nine graduate program credits to be taken at undergraduate tuition rates. This will be considered and built into the student’s study plan.
Students must be admitted to the undergraduate accounting major and must have completed at least ACC 300 before applying. Admission to the program requires a minimum undergraduate grade-point average of 3.0, and admission is competitive based upon space available.
Step 1: You will need to have an approved plan of study. Please email Katie Burley to develop your approved plan of study for the linked program. This plan must be submitted with your application.
Step 2: Create a profile and begin the application process here: https://explore.msu.edu/apply/.
Listed below are supplemental items that must be uploaded and/or submitted online with your application:
Shannon Mulally (mulally@msu.edu)
MSA Program (msacct@broad.msu.edu)
5. Application fee
$65 for domestic students
$75 for international students
Step 3: Once your application has been reviewed, you will receive an email notification of the admission decision.
Step 4: If admitted, you will need to complete a Request for Dual Enrollment Status form. Further program instructions will be provided with the admission notification.
Admitted students can take up to three courses that apply to the M.S. in Accounting degree at the undergraduate level. Students may take these courses, along with other B.A. degree requirements, during senior year.
In other words, if a student will graduate with more than 120 credits, the student may be able to take up to nine credits at the undergraduate level and tuition rate that will count towards the MS in Accounting degree. These credits must be in addition to the 120 credits needed for undergraduate graduation. For example, if a student will meet their undergraduate degree requirements with 129 credits, the student could take ACC 411, MGT 409 and ACC 821 for the MS program at the undergraduate tuition rate. The number of credits taken at the graduate premium tuition rate would be reduced to 21. The student would have the 150 credit hours required for CPA certification. Individual circumstances will dictate how the student can take advantage of the linked program.
Courses marked with an * are available to seniors on a space-available basis and if prerequisites are completed.
Students should familiarize themselves with the curriculum guide available online and in the departmental lobby on the second floor of the Business College Complex.
All M.S. students are required to take COM 875 Communication Leadership Skills in Organizations, (fall, spring, and summer semesters) and ACC 827 Accounting Analytics (fall and spring semesters).
In addition to the track requirements, students must take 12–15 credits in electives. A student may take up to six credits at the 400 level.
Nine credits must be outside of the major. PCA, Tax, and TS students may count IS courses as outside the major, while IS students may count other accounting courses as outside the major.
Choose four of the following:
Management of information system projects. Modeling of business processes. Management of project scope, time and costs. Planning and control of projects. Program and portfolio management. Consulting issues for effective project management.
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Architecture of enterprise information. Semantic and syntactic modeling of enterprise economic phenomena, relational database technology and database design for business systems, business process analysis patterns and implementation compromises.
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Governance and control of information technologies. Identification and valuation of key information and communication technologies, frameworks for assessing information system risk, information system auditing, and international standards for information technology governance and control.
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Analysis and design of object-oriented business systems. Unified modeling language descriptions of business phenomena and rules, object-oriented programming, use-case analysis and specifications, and XML tag sets for transactions and reporting.
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Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. ERP implementation issues and success factors. Use of enterprise systems, and exploring future directions in ERP systems.
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Develop an accounting analytics mindset. Determine and apply appropriate data analytic techniques based upon the accounting environment and situation. Use data visualization, predictive analytics and other analytics software as appropriate.
View full course description at the Office of the Registrar.
FI 801 required. Choose four of the following:
Short-, intermediate- and long-term problems in finance. Financial planning and control. Applications in domestic and international settings.
View full course description at the Office of the Registrar.
Economic, regulatory and technology environments as it relates to auditing in the public and private sectors. Risk analysis, professional standards, audit evidence gathering and evaluations, accounting and auditing research and decision making.
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Design and use of managerial accounting systems to support operational decisions in complex, real-world settings, using analytical techniques and real data.
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Financial reporting and tax issues related to business combinations and divestitures and the resulting consolidated reporting of the multi-unit enterprise’s financial and tax information.
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Concepts of financial analysis using U.S. and international accounting information. Cash-flow and earnings based models for business valuation, and supply of and demand for accounting information in financial markets.
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Framework for making professional judgments and decisions about accounting for contemporary financial reporting issues. Conceptual framework, standard setting, accounting for financial instruments, foreign subsidiaries, and hedging.
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The federal income taxation of corporations and shareholders resulting from operations, distributions, formations, liquidation, and reorganizations. Taxation of pass through entities.
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Management accounting concepts for strategic management and business unit management. Performance measurement, planning and budgeting, and control system design.
View full course description at the Office of the Registrar.
FI 801 required. Choose all of the following:
Short-, intermediate- and long-term problems in finance. Financial planning and control. Applications in domestic and international settings.
View full course description at the Office of the Registrar.
Writing and presentation techniques of tax research. Tax practice and procedure, and partnership taxation.
View full course description at the Office of the Registrar.
Financial reporting and tax issues related to business combinations and divestitures and the resulting consolidated reporting of the multi-unit enterprise’s financial and tax information.
View full course description at the Office of the Registrar.
The federal income taxation of corporations and shareholders resulting from operations, distributions, formations, liquidation, and reorganizations. Taxation of pass through entities.
View full course description at the Office of the Registrar.
Federal income taxation of transactions by U.S. persons outside the United States, and of investments by foreign persons in the United States.
View full course description at the Office of the Registrar.
FI 801 required. Choose all of the following:
Short-, intermediate- and long-term problems in finance. Financial planning and control. Applications in domestic and international settings.
View full course description at the Office of the Registrar.
Financial reporting and tax issues related to business combinations and divestitures and the resulting consolidated reporting of the multi-unit enterprise’s financial and tax information.
View full course description at the Office of the Registrar.
Concepts of financial analysis using U.S. and international accounting information. Cash-flow and earnings based models for business valuation, and supply of and demand for accounting information in financial markets.
View full course description at the Office of the Registrar.