Kellstadt Graduate School of Business

Master of Science in Accountancy

The Master of Science in Accountancy program offers students without an undergraduate Accounting degree the chance to obtain the competencies, skills and abilities necessary for an Accounting career. It is offered through the School of Accountancy and Management Information Systems (M.I.S.) whose alumni form one of the largest accounting networks in Chicago. The school's full-time faculty holds virtually every relevant degree and credential; includes nationally and internationally known authors, scholars and researchers; and considers teaching its chief mission.

Individuals with an MBA degree or students currently enrolled in the MBA program may have up to seven of their MBA courses count toward the requirements of the Master of Science in Accountancy degree. The exact number of courses that can be double-counted in this manner depends upon the specific coursework of each individual.

The Master of Science in Accountancy will prepare you for a career in accounting by giving you:

  • a formal integrated sequence of courses which emphasize intensive study of topics that are relevant to the work of a professional accountant, including the competence required for successful preparation for the CPA Examination; and
  • a core of business classes that allow you to understand other business disciplines and their relationship to accounting issues.

Curriculum

Students are expected to have an adequate background before starting the Master of Science in Accountancy program. Those that do not will be required to take Financial Accounting (ACC 500). After these prerequisite requirements are met, students complete the program by taking 15 courses as listed below.

Students must complete the following Management Core courses.

  • CONCEPTS OF MICRO AND MACRO ECONOMICS (ECO 501)
  • FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (FIN 555)
  • APPLIED QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS (GSB 420)
  • ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS (ACC 610)

Students must also take the following 11 Accountancy courses.

  • FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING THEORY AND PRACTICE (ACC 541)
  • COST AND MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING (ACC 542)
  • FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING THEORY AND PRACTICE II (ACC 543)
  • ADVANCED TOPICS IN ACCOUNTING THEORY (ACC 545)
  • AUDIT AND REGULATION OF CORPORATE FINANCIAL REPORTING (ACC 547) 
  • TAX TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS AND PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS (ACC 548)
  • ADVANCED TOPICS IN AUDITING (ACC 550)
  • TAX TREATMENT OF CORPORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS (ACC 551)
  • LEGAL AND ETHICAL ENVIRONMENT OF ACCOUNTING PRACTICE (ACC 552)
  • ACCOUNTING THEORY AND POLICY FORMULATION (ACC 640) - 5 QUARTER HOURS
  • AN ACCOUNTING ELECTIVE

M.S.A. DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

1.      Satisfactory completion of the college residency requirement.

2.      Satisfactory completion of at least 45 quarter hours applicable to the degree.

3.      Satisfactory completion of the management core, the ten required accountancy courses as outlined above and at least one accountancy

         elective approved by the program director.  

4.      All courses for credit toward the degree must be completed within six calendar years after the candidate’s first term of enrollment in the Kellstadt Graduate

         School of Business. After a lapse of six years a course is expired. An expired course is not acceptable for the purpose of satisfaction of degree requirements

         and is not applicable to the degree without the written permission of the program director or the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.