The Kogod School of Business Master of Science in Accounting (MSA) program is designed for students who have an undergraduate degree and seek a fifth year of professional education to satisfy 150-hour CPA licensure requirements, as well as for students who have an undergraduate degree in business or another discipline. The MSA program is offered full and part time. Students in the MSA program may combine their MSA with coursework in the taxation or financial reporting and assurance areas, allowing them to earn an a Master of Science in Accounting degree with a Specialization in Taxation or a Specialization in Financial Reporting and Assurance.  

American University's Kogod School of Business participates with the Greater Washington Society of CPAs Scholarship Fund. Learn more by visiting their web site at http://www.gwscpa.org.

The Master of Science in Accounting (MSA) program provides advanced study for students with undergraduate accounting degrees who seek a fifth year of professional education to satisfy 150-hour CPA licensure requirements. In addition, the program is sufficiently flexible to prepare both students with non-accounting undergraduate business degrees and those with non-business undergraduate degrees for accounting careers in a variety of organizational settings. The program may be completed on a full- or part-time basis. 

Masters in Accounting Degree Requirements

• 30 credit hours including a minimum of 15 credit hours in graduate accounting course work and 15 credit hours in graduate business or accounting electives.  

Across Bachelor and Masters in Accounting degrees combined, students must complete at least 27 credit hours in accounting, in addition to specific business core courses. Students entering the MSA program with undergraduate accounting degrees can typically satisfy MSA program degree requirements by completing 15 graduate accounting hours. The remaining 15 credit hours can be used to develop complementary expertise in a related field or specialized expertise in financial reporting and assurance or taxation 

Students with non-accounting undergraduate degrees may be required to use the 15 credit hour elective component to meet overall accounting requirements.  

Students entering the MSA program with non-business undergraduate degrees may be required to complete graduate course work in managerial economics, financial management, managerial statistics, and principles of accounting, potentially increasing total MSA course requirements to a maximum of 36 graduate credit hours. 

On admission to the MSA program, students will consult with the program director to design an approved program of study that meets both overall program goals and individual academic and professional objectives. 

Masters in Accounting Course Requirements

• ACCT-607 Accounting Concepts and Applications (3) 
• FIN-605 Managerial Economics (3) 
• FIN-614 Financial Management (3) 
• ITEC-610 Applied Managerial Statistics (3) 

Students with undergraduate degrees from AACSB-accredited business programs are presumed to have satisfied this requirement. All or part of this requirement may be waived for other students who have completed courses in principles in accounting, microeconomics, financial management, and/or statistics.

• ACCT-641 Corporate Financial Reporting

• ACCT-608 Cost Accounting

• ACCT-604 Tax Planning: Ind & Business

• ACCT-549 Contemporary Assurance & Audit Service

• ACCT-623 Business Law

• ACCT-780 Seminar in Accounting Theory