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Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Master of Science in Professional Accountancy

How does a combined bachelor's and master's in accounting work?

A combined bachelor's and master's degree in accounting is an accelerated pathway that allows students to earn both degrees while beginning graduate coursework during their senior undergraduate year. Instead of completing a bachelor's degree and then applying separately to a graduate program, students take master's-level courses before graduation and complete the remaining graduate requirements shortly afterward. This approach helps students meet the educational requirements for the 150-credit pathway to CPA licensure, which reduces the required professional experience from two years to one, while reducing the time and cost required to earn both degrees and preparing them to enter accounting careers more quickly.

Marist University's Dual Degree in Accounting provides accounting students with the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and an online Master of Science in Professional Accountancy (MSPA) in four years and three months. The program enables students to earn an additional 30 credits and a graduate degree through an accelerated and flexible pathway that builds on their undergraduate accounting education.

Curriculum

The online Master of Science in Professional Accountancy requires 30 credits. For Marist students, up to 12 credits may be earned during the fall/spring semesters of the senior year, with remaining credits during the summer following conferral of their undergraduate degree. 

Fall and Spring Semester Senior Year

  • MSPA 602 Internship in Accounting or MSPA 630 Business Valuations
  • Three (3) MBA electives

Summer Semester (two five-week sessions and one two-week session)

  • MSPA 601 Accounting Research
  • MSPA 604 Government & Not-for-Profit Accounting
  • MSPA 610 Tax Research
  • MSPA 620 Advanced Auditing
  • MSPA 621 Accounting Information Systems
  • MSPA 677 Contemporary Issues in Accounting

 

Program Benefits

  • Meet the educational requirements for the 150-credit pathway to CPA licensure
  • Cost savings – up to 12 graduate-level credits taken at the undergraduate rate
  • Speed to degree – BS and MS earned in 4 years, 3 months
  • No GMAT required **
  • Strong faculty relationships with both accounting firms and the corporate community
  • Career readiness to enter the accounting profession 

 

Admission Requirements for Combined BS/MS Accounting Program

Current Marist students may apply in the spring semester of their sophomore year or during their junior year after completing ACCT 301 Intermediate Accounting I.

 

Admission Requirements

  • Declared Accounting major
  • 3.00 Cumulative GPA
  • 3.00 Accounting GPA
  • GMAT upon request (may be required for those below a 3.00 GPA)

Deadline for Application – April 1 (sophomore status)*

*Applications will be reviewed after April 1 on a case-by-case basis for eligibility.

**If GPA below 3.0, GMAT may be required upon request.

 

For more information and to apply, contact the Online MSPA Program Director:

Byunghoon Jin, PhD, CPA
Associate Professor of Accounting
School of Management
byunghoon.jin@Marist.edu
(845) 575-3000 ext. 2962