Master of Science in Accountancy

Advisors:
Hans J. Dykxhoorn
Room 3228, Schneider Hall

Jerry G. Kreuze
Room 3162, Schneider Hall

Roger Tang
Room 3128, Schneider Hall

The Master of Science in Accountancy prepares students for professional careers in public accounting, industry, commerce, finance, and government. A graduate of the Haworth College of Business with a Master of Science in Accountancy will be qualified to take many of the professional certification examinations.

The MSA program is designed to provide greater breadth and depth in accounting and business than that delivered in the undergraduate accountancy program. The curriculum helps students further develop their technical expertise, communication skills, and understanding of the role of accountants in organizations. Course work will be selected from the areas of financial accounting, cost and managerial accounting, auditing, taxation, not-for-profit, accounting fraud, and accounting systems.

Admission Requirements

To be eligible for admission to the Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) program, an applicant must have earned:

A total score of at least 1100, which is the sum of the GMAT score and (200 x the GPA for the last 60 hours in an accredited undergraduate degree program)
a minimum GMAT score of 480
a minimum GPA of 2.75 for the last 60 hours in an accredited undergraduate degree program.

Recent scores of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) are acceptable. Equivalent GRE test scores can be used to meet minimum GMAT score requirements and can be used in formula calculations for admission purposes. See www.ets.org for information on conversion of a GRE score to a predicted GMAT score.

International Students Admission Requirements

An applicant whose native language is not English must achieve a minimum score of 215 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

A discussion with International Admissions and Services (IAS) and the MSA faculty and administration held on October 13, 2010 resulted in the proposed modifications to the current admission policy, effective for fall 2011 applicants.

Applicants to the MSA program will be required to show TOEFL results of 90 Internet Based Total (IBT) or 577 Paper Based Total (PBT) for unrestricted admission.
Applicants with 61-89 Internet Based Total (IBT) or 500-576 Paper Based Total (PBT) will be admitted with the restricted policy. Students in this test range will be required to enroll in ENGL 3600 or ENGL 3610. The English class appropriate for the student will continue to be determined by the IAS.
Enrollment of new international student will be limited to fall semester except for students with above 90-577 IBT/PBT scores who may begin their enrollment in fall, spring of summer I terms. This modification will allow the student to go through the first semester at WMU during the less intense months of our summer.
Students admitted with the restricted policy will be required to start summer I semester in order to fulfill the English class before fall semester. They will be allowed to enroll in academic courses their first semester as determined by the MSA faculty.

A Western Michigan University accounting major with an average grade point of 3.3 or higher in the following eight courses (or equivalents) is not required to take the GMAT or GRE: ACTY 3100, 3110, 3130, 3220, 3240, 4160, and two of the electives (4110, 4130, 4140, 4220, and 4240).

Prerequisites to Graduate Study

The required preparation is an undergraduate degree in accounting, or its equivalent, and a 3.0 grade point average in accounting and business courses. Basic Skills: Quantitative Analysis, Computer Literacy, Written Communications. Basic Core: Corporate Finance; Legal, Regulatory, and Political Aspects of Business; Basic Economic Analysis. Accountancy Course Prerequisites: ACTY 2100, Principles of Accounting I; ACTY 2110, Principles of Accounting II; ACTY 3100, Financial Accounting I; ACTY 3110, Financial Accounting II; ACTY 3130, Accounting Information Systems; ACTY 3220, Managerial Accounting Concepts and Practices; ACTY 3240, Introductory Tax Accounting; ACTY 4160, Auditing.

Program Requirements

A minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate work is required. A minimum of 15 hours of accounting must be selected from the following courses:

ACTY 6100 - Financial Accounting and Reporting Credits: 3 hours
ACTY 6170 - Attestation and Assurance Services Credits: 3 hours
ACTY 6210 - International Accounting Credits: 3 hours
ACTY 6220 - Seminar in Management Accounting Credits: 3 hours
ACTY 6240 - Business Tax Planning Credits: 3 hours
ACTY 6270 - Accounting Fraud Credits: 3 hours

Additional Requirements

In addition to the accountancy course requirements, the student must elect a minimum of nine hours of 6000-level courses outside the Department of Accountancy. Each individual program must include at least 24 hours of 6000- or 7000-level courses and must have prior approval of a department advisor.

To summarize the requirements:

Minimum of 30 hours of graduate course work.
Minimum of 15 hours of graduate course work in accountancy.
Minimum of 9 hours of non-accounting graduate courses.
Minimum of 24 hours at the 6000-level or above.
Minimum of 39 semester hours of accounting in graduate and undergraduate course work.

A graduate of the Haworth College of Business with a Master of Science in Accountancy will be qualified to take many of the professional certification examinations. Since the qualifying rules differ by state and are subject to change, the student is responsible for determining if additional criteria need to be met for a specific exam or state. The program is designed to meet the AICPA’s 150-hour requirement. A student without a degree in business must complete 24 credit hours of business courses to meet the 150-hour requirement.

The current requirements to sit for the CPA exam in Michigan include 24 hours of accounting, including auditing. The course work also must include a study in systems and governmental accounting.