Accounting, M.Acc.

Admission Requirements

To be considered for admission to the Master of Accountancy program (see Admission to the College of Graduate Studies ), a student must meet ONE of the following:

1. Student has an undergraduate accounting degree field from an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited institution with an overall undergraduate GPA of 3.00.
2. Student has either a composite score of 950, with a minimum GMAT of 400, calculated as GPA x 200 + GMAT = 950, or Upper Division GPA x 200 + GMAT = 1,000.
3. International students must comply with the following provision: For undergraduate degrees from foreign institutions where a grade point average cannot be clearly established but where that work is thought to be equivalent to domestic grades of B or higher, admission eligibility may be determined by the GMAT score. A score of at least 450 is required for unconditional admission under such circumstances. Preparatory work taken institutions with grading systems paralleling that of most United States institutions must conform to a B average.
4. Students without an undergraduate degree in Accounting may apply for admission to the Master of Accountancy program as long as they meet the requirements in (2) above. In addition, these students will be required to complete certain prerequisite undergraduate accounting courses including (but not limited to) Principles of Accounting I and II, Intermediate Accounting I and II, Cost Accounting, Introduction to Federal Income Tax, Legal Environment of Management (Business Law), Survey of Economic Theory, Quantitative Methods Survey, Survey of Information Systems Issues, and Survey of Managerial Finance.

Application Procedures

All application materials are to be submitted to the College of Graduate Studies.

The tentative application deadline is February 15 for those wishing to be considered for graduate assistantships and admission in the summer or fall. October 1 is the tentative application deadline for admission in the spring. Applications will be accepted after these dates, but admission consideration is not guaranteed.

Applicant must

1. submit an application with the appropriate application fee (online at www.mtsu.edu/graduate/apply.php);
2. submit official scores on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) if required;
3. submit official transcripts of all previous college work.

NOTE: Students applying for an assistantship must also submit three letters of recommendation from professors or professionals that address the applicants’ potential to successfully complete a Master of Accountancy program.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Accountancy requires completion of a 6 credit-hour core and 24 credit hours in electives. A capstone course must be passed with a grade of B- or higher with a maximum enrollment of two times. The degree is to be completed within six years from the time of admission to the degree program.

Curriculum: Accounting

Candidate must complete 30 hours in the following course of study:

Program Notes

The business prerequisites for a student seeking the M.Acc.degree are

• an undergraduate course in business law or  BLAW 3400, Legal Environment of Business
• undergraduate course in economics or ECON 2410 or 2420, Principles of Economics
• undergraduate course in statistics or QM 6000, Quantitative Methods Survey
• undergraduate course in information systems or INFS 3100, Principles of Management Information Systems
• undergraduate course in finance or FIN 3010, Business Finance.

A recent graduate of an AACSB-accredited program would normally possess an adequate background in these prerequisites. In addition, students entering the M.Acc. degree program must have completed an additional 18 hours of prerequisites in accounting  including

• ACTG 3110 and 3120, Intermediate Accounting I and II
• ACTG 3310, Cost Accounting
• ACTG 4510, Accounting Systems
• ACTG 4550, Introduction to Federal Income Tax
• ACTG 4620 or ACTG 4640, External Auditing I or Internal Auditing.

The Master of Accountancy fulfills the requirement to sit for the CPA exam in Tennessee.

No foreign language or thesis is required in the program.

Students are required to complete a degree plan at time of admission and to submit it to the College of Graduate Studies prior to completion of 21 semester hours.

Candidates must file a Notice of Intent to Graduate Form in the College of Graduate Studies within the first two weeks of the term in which candidate intends to graduate.

Students who have credit for the undergraduate equivalent of a 5000-level course are not permitted to enroll in the 5000-level course for credit.