Accounting

School of Accounting, MS

Our M.S. in Accounting program at OSU has about 150 active students. We are a land-grant university with a down-to-earth mission. Students know their professors here; they know each other; and they willingly help each other. We expect excellence from our students and strive to provide them with the same.

Students who undertake our master’s program should be transformed into professionals who have completed the CPA exam and are technically adept, resourceful, and ready to compete in a fast-changing, increasingly-global world. We place a particular emphasis on professional ethics, personal responsibility, and continuing development of leadership skills.

There are two basic programs through which a student can complete a Master’s degree in Accounting here at OSU. These are the 4/1 Program and the Professional Program in Accounting.

4/1 Program

The 4/1 program is the appropriate program for a student who has completed an undergraduate degree in accounting or any other area of study and who wishes to attain a graduate degree in accounting. Students in this program must complete 33 hours of graduate-level course work, with at least 21 of those hours in accounting. Depending on the student’s educational background, additional accounting and/or business courses may be required to prepare for graduate-level study in accounting.

Professional Program in Accounting

The Professional Program in Accounting (PPA) allows an OSU undergraduate student to begin work on his/her Master’s degree during the first semester of the student’s senior year (i.e., after completion of 90 hours of undergraduate course work). Like the 4/1 program, the student must complete 33 hours of graduate-level courses, with at least 21 of those hours in accounting. The student’s B.S. degree is awarded on completion of their undergraduate requirements, and the M.S. is awarded when the Master’s requirements have been completed.

Academic Program

Students pursuing a Masters degree in Accounting may follow a variety of paths. Our two most popular concentrations are External Reporting and Tax. We can also help students develop their track with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship, Finance, or MSIS. Please visit with the M.S. Coordinator for help in developing a plan of study.

Any concentration requires a total of 33 graduate hours (11 classes). At least 21 of these hours (7 classes) must be in accounting. The remaining 12 hours (4 classes) can be selected from other specified graduate electives. All students graduating with an M.S. in accounting should have taken Accounting Ethics, Advanced Accounting (Consolidations and Not-for-Profit), and Advanced Tax. If these classes were not taken as part of the student’s undergraduate study, they will need to be completed as part of the Masters-level study.

One of the most popular elective courses is the CPA Review course. This course is taken in the student’s last semester and uses the Becker CPA Review materials. Students who select this course will take each of the four parts of the actual CPA exam during the semester and must be exam-ready in order to enroll in the course. Our pass rates on the exam are very high, and our goal is to have each student who takes this course graduate with the CPA exam under his/her belt.

Admission Requirements for the M.S. and PPA Requirements

The following admission requirements serve as a MINIMUM THRESHOLD for consideration into the M.S. and PPA in Accounting. Other factors which may be taken into consideration include OSU Policies & Procedures (including the Academic Integrity Policy) and any other factors that the School of Accounting deems pertinent to your admission or potential success in the program.

Students who wish to earn a Master’s degree in Accounting can follow one of two possible paths:

• If the student has already received an undergraduate degree or will have completed all undergraduate requirements before taking any graduate-level class, the student should seek admission to the 4/1 program.
• If the student is an existing OSU student who will not have all requirements for an undergraduate degree complete at the time they take their first graduate-level class, the student should seek admission to the PPA program.