Accountancy

This is an archived copy of the 2023-24 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.ndsu.edu.

Admission Requirements

  1. Undergraduate degree from an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB*) accredited institution.
  2. Minimum overall cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
  3. Minimum cumulative GPA for accounting upper-division courses of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
  4. A GPA of at least 2.9 on a 4.0 scale is required for the following courses and at most one C:
    1. ACCT 311 (Intermediate Accounting I)
    2. ACCT 312 (Intermediate Accounting II)
    3. ACCT 320 (Cost Accounting)
    4. ACCT 418 (Tax I)
    5. ACCT 421 (Audit I)
  5. If the requirements 1-4 are not satisfied, then a minimum score of 550 on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) is needed for consideration.
  6. A statement of purpose describing reasons for pursuing a Master of Accountancy (MAcc) degree.
  7. Two letters of recommendation.**
  8. Conditional admission is granted solely at the discretion of the M.Acc. Director and/or the M.Acc. committee.

Specific instructions for graduates with a bachelor’s degree from:

A. Non-NDSU North Dakota four-year, not-for-profit schools and Tri-College schools

i. Requirements 2 - 7 should be satisfied to apply for consideration.

B. All other regionally accredited schools, including those located internationally

i.  Requirements 2 – 4, 6, and 7 should be satisfied to apply for consideration.

ii. Requirement 5 is not applicable.

iii. A GMAT with a minimum score of 550 is required by all.

* Click here to view a list of AACSB-accredited schools.

** Not required for NDSU accounting undergraduates.

All international applicants are required to complete Graduate School application requirements listed at https://www.ndsu.edu/gradschool/apply/international and submit a course-by-course transcript evaluation from World Education Services (WES). See www.wes.org.

Financial Assistance:  The department offers semester-long assistantships on a competitive basis. The M.Acc. Director will send the application for the assistantship to all eligible students who have applied to the program by the application deadlines.

Program Curriculum

The total course requirements necessary to complete the M.Acc. degree will vary depending on the background of the student. Students without an undergraduate accounting degree will be required to take a core of undergraduate accounting courses in addition to the graduate courses required for the degree. Please refer to the core accounting course list at the end of this page. A student with an academic background in accounting will need to take ten (10) graduate-level courses (30 semester credit hours) and may complete the degree in as little as eleven months depending on the number of courses a student desires to take in a semester. Students may choose to pursue the degree on a part-time or a full-time basis.

The graduate course work for the M.Acc. degree includes four required courses in accounting theory, applied professional research, financial statement analysis, and information resource management. In addition, the student must take five accounting electives from a list of ten courses that includes fraud examination, taxation, management control systems, advanced auditing, and advanced financial accounting and analysis. Finally, the student must take one graduate elective from a list of approved courses or with permission of the graduate program coordinator.  

ACCT 735Applied Professional Research3
ACCT 750Accounting Theory3
ACCT 755Financial Statement Analysis3
MIS 770Information Resources Management3
Select 5 of the following:15
Fraud Examination 1
Advanced Fraud Examination 1
Advanced Accounting 1
Tax Accounting II 1
Accounting Information Systems 1
Government and Not-for-Profit Accounting 1
Auditing II
International Financial Reporting Standards
Advanced Topics in Management Accounting
Select one of the of the following: 23
Special Topics
Individual Study/Tutorial
Business Data Mining and Predictive Analytics
Integrated Supply Chain System
Introduction to ERP
Investment Analysis and Management 1
Management of Financial Institutions 1
Consumer Behavior 1
Human Resource Management 1
The elective course must be pre-approved by the Master of Accountancy (MAcc) Director in writing. 2
Students cannot take the 600-level course if they took the 400-level course 1
Total Credits30
1

Students cannot take the 600-level course if they took the 400-level course

2

Summer courses are offered when student enrollment numbers meet the required minimum.


CORE UNDERGRADUATE ACCOUNTING COURSES: You must have completed the following courses or their equivalent.

ACCT 311Intermediate Accounting I4
ACCT 312Intermediate Accounting II4
ACCT 320Cost Management Systems3
ACCT 418Tax Accounting I3
ACCT 421Auditing I3

Faculty

​James W. Clifton, CPA, CFE
Assistant Professor of Accounting Practice
Specialty: Accounting, Fraud, and Taxation

Thomas D. Dowdell, Ph.D.
Professor
Specialty: Accounting and Auditing

Nancy J. Emerson, CPA, MAS
Senior Lecturer
Specialty: Accounting and Government/Nonprofit Accounting

Lindsey DiFiore, CPA
Lecturer
Specialty: Accounting and Fraud

Yongtao (David) Hong, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Specialty: Advanced Accounting, International Standards, and Theory

Michael J. Petersen, Ph.D., CMA, CFM
Associate Professor
Specialty: Accounting and Cost Management