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Program Description

The Master of Accountancy (M.Acc.) program at North Dakota State University is a non-thesis, professional program structured to advance the knowledge of qualified students with an undergraduate accounting degree. Students without an undergraduate accounting degree may be conditionally admitted to the program if they have some of the core undergraduate courses and will be required to take the remaining core undergraduate courses in addition to the graduate courses.

The Master of Accountancy (M.Acc.) program at NDSU is designed to have students complete graduate studies needed to advance their careers whether their career be in public accounting, corporate accounting, or government accounting and prepare them for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam. Our approach to learning combines case study and applied learning in a collaborative environment. The focus of the program is to develop a student's analytical skills while providing students with in-depth accounting knowledge and skills. Students will be prepared to identify accounting problems, research the problem and possible solutions through using on-line and other databases, and present a recommended action. The learning environment also provides students the opportunity to draw from the experiences of fellow students from diverse backgrounds as well as interact with corporate, public accounting, government, and not-for-profit accounting discipline leaders

Through the College of Business, North Dakota State University's M.Acc program is fully accredited by AACSB International (http://aacsb.edu), the premier accrediting agency in business administration and accounting.

Admission Requirements

A. Admission requirements for NDSU accounting majors

1.     The applicant's overall undergraduate GPA should be at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

2.     The applicant's GPA for upper-division accounting courses should be at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

3.     The applicant does not have to complete the GMAT, if the student meets the minimum GPA requirements (requirements A.1. and A.2.).

4.     If the applicant's GPA is below the 3.0 standards (requirements A.1. and A.2.), conditional admission to the program may be allowed under the following conditions:

4.1. The student has significant post-graduation work experience OR
4.2. The student takes the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) with an expectation that the student earn a score of at least 550.

5.     Students must also submit a letter stating reasons for wanting a Master of Accountancy degree. Names of two NDSU accounting professors must be entered on the application, but no references are required.

6.     If the above requirements are not met, the applicant may be granted conditional admission.

7.     Conditional admission is granted solely at the discretion of the program coordinator and/or admissions committee.

B. Admission Requirements for Students Graduating with Accounting Major from Tri-College Schools and AACSB accredited Schools

1.     The student’s overall GPA should be at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

2.     The student’s GPA for upper-division accounting courses should be at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

3.     Applicants do not have to complete the GMAT, if the student meets the minimum GPA requirements (Requirements B.1. and B.2.).

4.     If the student’s GPA is below the 3.0 standards (Requirements B.1. and B.2.), conditional admission to the program may be allowed under the following conditions:

4.1. The student has significant post-graduation work experience OR
4.2. The student takes the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) with an expectation that the student earn a score of at least 550.

5.     Students must also submit a letter stating reasons for wanting a Master of Accountancy degree and two letters of recommendation.

6.     If the above requirements are not met, the student may be granted conditional admission.

7.     Conditional admission is granted solely at the discretion of the program coordinator and/or admissions committee.

C. Admission Requirements for All Others

1.     The student has an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited school.

2.     The student’s overall GPA should be at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

3.     The student’s GPA for upper-division accounting courses should be at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

4.     The student takes the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) with an expectation that the student earn a score of at least 520.

5.     If the student has not completed all of the following core courses or their equivalent in their undergraduate program, the student may be conditionally admitted to the program.

5.1. Core courses 

5.1.1. ACCT 311 (Intermediate Accounting I)
5.1.2. ACCT 312 (Intermediate Accounting II)
5.1.3. ACCT 320 (Cost Accounting)
5.1.4. ACCT 418 (Tax I)
5.1.5. ACCT 421 (Audit I)
5.2. The student will be expected to complete any missing core courses within the first two semesters of the program.
5.3. Students must meet the minimum GPA standard of 3.0 for all of the core courses for final acceptance into the program.

6.     If the student’s undergraduate GPA is below the 3.0 standards (Requirements C.2. and C.3.), conditional admission to the program may be allowed under the following conditions:

6.1. The student has significant post-graduation work experience OR
6.2. The student takes the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) with an expectation that the student earn a score of at least 550.

7.      Students must also submit a letter stating reasons for wanting a Master of Accountancy degree and two letters of recommendation. 

8.     If the above requirements are not met, the student may be granted conditional admission.

9.     Conditional admission is granted solely at the discretion of the program coordinator and/or admissions committee.

D. Conditional status expires and regular admission is granted if the applicant meets the terms of their conditional admission. See sections A.6., A.7., B.6., B.7., C.8. and C.9. above.

E. A student who attended a university outside of the United States must submit a course-by-course transcript evaluation from World Education Services (WES). See www.wes.org.

Financial Assistance

A limited number of graduate assistantships are available each semester through the Master of Accountancy program. The program coordinator will send an application for the assistantship to all eligible students who have applied to the program by the application deadlines.