Master of Science in Accountancy

Advisors:

Jerry G. Kreuze, 3162 Schneider Hall
Sheldon Langsam, 3160 Schneider Hall
Jagjit Saini, 3186 Schneider Hall
Thomas Schultz, 3122 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, 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 meet the following:

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 be determined by the IAS.
Enrollment of new international students 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.
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 accountancy 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, 4240, and 4310). Students who do not meet these requirements may be eligible for waivers based on professional or previous academic experience. Students need to contact the Department of Accountancy to inquire about waivers.

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, Academic Communications. Graduate students whose native language in not English and who do not have a degree from a U.S. institution must take the Academic Communication Placement Test at the beginning of their first semester of enrollment. This test is administered by the Center for English Language and Culture for International Students. It must be taken in addition to TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), which is taken as part of the admission process. A student who does not pass this examination is assigned to the Academic Communication for Business Purposes course. This course must be completed during the first semester of study. Graduate students whose native language is not English but have an undergraduate degree from a U.S. institution will not be required to take the placement test or the course. 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
ACTY 6280 - Financial Statement Analysis Credits: 3 hours
ACTY 6430 - Selected Topics in Accountancy II Credits: 3 hours
ACTY 6440 - Selected Topics in Accountancy III Credits: 3 hours

Note:

ACTY 6010 and ACTY 6110 do NOT qualify as part of the 30 credit hour MSA program.

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.

Nine Hours of 6000-level Non-Accounting Courses

The nine hours of 6000-level courses outside the Department of Accountancy should be selected from the following courses:

BUS 6150 - Global Business Credits: 3 hours
BUS 6160 - Law, Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Credits: 3 hours
CIS 6300 - Business Data Management Credits: 3 hours
CIS 6400 - Business Analytics Credits: 3 hours
CIS 6640 - Predictive Analytics and Data Mining Credits: 3 hours
COM 6430 - Communication, Strategic Planning and Innovation Credits: 3 hours
COM 6730 - Conflict Management Credits: 3 hours
COM 6810 - Group Communication Processes Credits: 3 hours
COM 6830 - Power and Leadership Credits: 3 hours
ECON 6030 - Advanced Price Theory Credits: 3 hours
ECON 6070 - Uncertainty and Health Credits: 3 hours
FCL 6000 - Seminar in Business Credits: 3 hours
FIN 6120 - Financial Management Credits: 3 hours
FIN 6190 - Financial Markets and Institutions Credits: 3 hours
FIN 6220 - Financial Restructuring Credits: 3 hours
FIN 6250 - Financial Strategy Credits: 3 hours
FIN 6420 - International Finance Credits: 3 hours
FIN 6450 - Computer Applications in Finance Credits: 3 hours
MGMT 6100 - International Management Credits: 3 hours
MGMT 6140 - Supply Chain and Process Management Credits: 3 hours
MGMT 6170 - Leading People and Organizations Credits: 3 hours
MGMT 6200 - ERP System Configuration Credits: 3 hours
MGMT 6500 - Managing Change Credits: 3 hours
MGMT 6800 - Management of Innovation and Technology (MOIT) Credits: 3 hours
MKTG 6130 - Customer-Driven Marketing Management Credits: 3 hours
MKTG 6140 - Supply Chain and Process Management Credits: 3 hours
MKTG 6760 - Multinational Marketing Management Credits: 3 hours

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.

Professional Certification Examinations

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.