M.S. in Accounting

Program Description | Admission | Degree Requirements | Courses


Program Description

The Master of Science in Accounting program is designed to provide students with the advanced study in accounting necessary to prepare for the CPA examination. This program equips students with the knowledge and skills needed in the profession of accounting.

Graduates of the MS in Accounting program are prepared for employment opportunities with industry, government, and public accounting firms.

The MS in Accounting requires thirty graduate credit hours and can be completed in one year (12 months) by full time students who first enroll in either fall or summer semesters.

All classes in the MS in Accounting program are taught only at the Huntsville campus.

Mission

As a professional program the mission of the M.S. in Accounting is to provide students with the functional competencies necessary to enter the accounting profession and to enable students to meet the minimum educational requirements for taking the Uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Examination in Texas.

Vision

The M.S. in Accounting program provides students with a thorough grounding in the technical core competencies for entry into the accounting profession as identified by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). In 1999 the AICPA established the Core Competency Framework for Entry into the Accounting Profession (the Framework). That Framework identifies six functional competencies as most aligned with the value contributed by accounting professionals: decision modeling, risk analysis, measurement, reporting, research, and leveraging technology.

The M.S. in Accounting program allows students to meet the minimum legislatively mandated requirement of 150 hours of college credit to qualify to sit for the Uniform CPA Examination in Texas. An additional requirement is that the student must have completed 30 hours of advanced accounting course work to qualify to sit for the examination. The M.S. in Accounting program provides the course work necessary to meet these requirements over and above the 120 hours for undergraduate degree completion.


Admissions

  1. Complete the online graduate application form.
  2. Pay the application fee
  3. Submit official transcript(s) from all previous college work (except SHSU graduates)
  4. Submit an official GMAT score
  5. Submit a current resume (e-mailed to graduate@shsu.edu).

Graduate Application Deadlines

U.S. Citizens

Fall - August 1

Spring - December 1

Summer - May 15

International Students

Fall - June 25

Spring - November 12

Summer - April 9

Admission Criteria

  1. Meet or exceed one of the following formulas:
    1. 200 (Undergraduate GPA) + GMAT Score >= 1100*
    2. 200 (Advanced Hours Undergraduate GPA) + GMAT Score >= 1150**
  2. Have a minimum overall undergraduate GPA of 3.0
  3. Have a minimum advanced accounting coursework of 3.0
  4. Hold a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from a U.S. Institution.
  5. GMAT Waiver Requests: Undergraduate GPA* of 3.5 or higher allows for a comprehensive review of academic performance and consideration for the GMAT waiver
*The Undergraduate GPA is the GPA from courses taken at the degree granting instiutiton. Transfer grades are not used in the computation.
**The advanced hours undergraduate GPA is the GPA from junior- and senior- level courses taken at the degree granting institution. Transfer grades are not used in this computation.

 


Degree Requirements

Stem Requirements for Non-Business Graduates and Non-Accounting Graduates

Students seeking admission to the Master of Science in Accounting Program who do not have a baccalaureate degree in accounting from an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) accredited university will be required to take substantial stem courses before being allowed in the MS in Accounting program. Baccalaureate degrees from foreign universities not accredited by AACSB International are treated as non-business degrees. Additionally, graduate stem courses (5300s) do not apply to the 30-hour graduate credit hour requirement of the ACCT degree. Contact the graduate advisor for details.

Course
BANA 5300 Quantitative Tools for Business (or both BANA 2372 and MGMT 4370)
ECON 5300 Economics Principles and Policy (or both ECON 2302 and ECON 2301)
FINC 3320 Business Finance
BUAD 3335 Business Communications
BUAD 3355 Business Law
MGMT 3310 Principles Of Management
MGIS 3310 Management Information Systems
MKTG 3310 Principles of Marketing
ACCT 2301 Principles of Financial Accounting
ACCT 2302 Principles of Managerial Accounting
ACCT 3313 Intermediate Accounting I
ACCT 3314 Intermediate Accounting II
ACCT 3324 Principles of Accounting Systems Design
ACCT 3347 Cost Accounting
ACCT 3353 Income Tax Accounting
ACCT 4315 Advanced Accounting I
ACCT 4316 Advanced Accounting II
ACCT 4372 Auditing Principles

 

 

M.S. in Accounting

<tdstyle="vertical-align: top; width: 10%">Hours
Required
<tdstyle="vertical-align: top; width: 75%">Choose all from:
ACCT 5311 <ACCT 580> Advanced Topics in Financial Accounting [Fall]
ACCT 5324 <ACCT 582> Information Systems Audit and Assurance [Fall]
ACCT 5336 <ACCT 568> Governmental and Non-for-Profit Accounting [Spring]
ACCT 5352 <ACCT 584> Corporate and Pass Through Entity Taxation [Spring]
ACCT 5379 <ACCT 586> Professional Ethics and Responsibilities [Spring]
ACCT 5399 <ACCT 599> Advanced Auditing Theory and Practice1 [Spring]<tdstyle="vertical-align: top; width: 75%">Choose three from:
ACCT 5315 Seminar in Accounting Theory [Summer I]
ACCT 5333 <ACC 533> Financial Statement Analysis [Fall]
ACCT 5347 Managerial Accounting Applications [Summer]
ACCT 5355 <ACCT 587> Estate Planning, Trusts, and Nonprofits [Summer II]
ACCT 5375 <ACCT 595> ERP Business Process Integration [Fall/Spring]

Item
Requirement
Options
1
Specified
Courses
18
2
Restricted Electives
9
3 COBA Electives Choose one from:
Any graduate courses from the College of Business Administration 

3
TOTAL
30
Notes:

<tdstyle="vertical-align: top; width: 1%">1

ACCT 5399 <ACC 599> is a capstone course that satisfies the comprehensive exam requirement. A grade of B or better is required for graduation.
2 Non-COBA courses must be approved by the Chair of the Department of Accounting.

 


Courses

Accounting (ACCT)
Business Analysis (BANA)
Business Administration (BUAD)
Economics (ECON)
Finance (FINC)
Management (MGMT)
Management Information Systems (MGIS)
Marketing (MKTG)

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