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Accounting         Description Degree Offered Admission Master of Science in Accounting Contact Info

Description

The Master of Science in Accounting degree provides candidates with greater breadth and depth in accounting than is possible in baccalaureate programs. The emphasis is on preparing students for careers as professional accountants and consultants in public practice, financial institutions, governments, industry, and nonprofit organizations. The program, along with appropriate foundation work, satisfies the Florida requirements to qualify to take the Certified Public Accountant (C.P.A.) examination.

Degrees Offered

Master of Science in Accounting

Admission

For information on general UCF graduate admissions requirements that apply to all prospective students, please visit the Admissions and Registration section of the graduate catalog. Applicants must apply online. Please be sure to submit all requested material by the established deadline(s).

In addition to the general admission requirements, applicants must provide:

• Official score of at least 520 on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).
• GPA of 3.0 or higher in last 60 hours of undergraduate study and in upper-division accounting and tax courses. All foreign transcripts must be evaluated.
• Resume.
• For applicants from countries where English is not the official language, or for an applicant whose bachelor’s degree is not from an accredited U.S. institution, an official score of at least 230 (computer-based test; or equivalent score on the paper-based test) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required.

Application Due Dates

All students applying for fellowships or assistantships must apply by the Fall Priority deadline date.

U.S. Applicants

Program(s)		Fall Priority	Fall	Spring	Summer
Master of Science in Accounting		Feb 1	Jun 15	Nov 1	Mar 15

International Applicants

Program(s)		Fall Priority	Fall	Spring	Summer
Master of Science in Accounting		Jan 15	Jan 15	Jul 1

International Transfer Applicants

Program(s)		Fall Priority	Fall	Spring	Summer
Master of Science in Accounting		Feb 1	Mar 1	Sep 1

Master of Science in Accounting

M.S.A. Degree Minimum Requirement—30 Credit Hours

The Master of Science in Accounting (M.S.A.) degree is awarded upon satisfactory completion of a minimum of 30 credit hours. In the total program of study a minimum of 18 hours of the course work, including a minimum of 12 hours of accounting/tax course work, must be at the 6000 level. Students, with the assistance and approval of the program adviser, may select courses that reflect their interests.

Accounting and Business Foundation Core

The courses included in the accounting and business foundation core are listed below. A recent UCF accounting undergraduate degree satisfies the core requirement. Other recent related business administration course work may partially or fully satisfy this requirement. Any deficiencies must be satisfied before advanced course work can be taken.

Accounting Foundation Core (18 credit hours)

• ACG 3131 Financial Accounting Concepts and Analysis (3 credit hours)
• ACG 3141 Intermediate Financial Accounting (3 credit hours)
• ACG 4401 Accounting Information Systems (3 credit hours)
• ACG 4651 Auditing or ACG 4671 Internal Auditing (3 credit hours)
• BUL 3130 Legal and Ethical Environment of Business (3 credit hours)
• TAX 4001 Taxation of Business Entities and Transactions (3 credit hours)

Business Foundation Core (10.5 credit hours)

• ACG 5005 Accounting Foundations (1.5 credit hours)*
• ECO 5006 Economic Foundations (1.5 credit hours)*
• ECO 5414 Statistical Foundations (1.5 credit hours)*
• FIN 5407 Financial Foundations (1.5 credit hours)*
• ISM 5020 MIS Foundations (1.5 credit hours)*
• MAN 5021 Management Foundations (1.5 credit hours)*
• MAR 5055 Marketing Foundations (1.5 credit hours)*

* Or undergraduate course equivalent taken as an undergraduate student. If the course was not part of the undergraduate program, it must be taken at the 5000 level.

Required Courses—6 Credit Hours

• ACG 6636 Advanced Auditing Topics (3 credit hours)
• ACG 5405 Advanced Accounting Information Systems (3 credit hours)

Restricted Electives—24 Credit Hours

Students must select eight elective courses for their programs of study. Five selections must be from the list of restricted electives listed below. At least three of these five selected courses must be accounting and/or taxation courses at the 6000 level.

Accounting and Taxation Restricted Electives

• ACG 5346 Advanced Managerial Accounting (3 credit hours)
• ACG 5517 Financial Accounting and Auditing for Governmental and Nonprofit Organizations (3 credit hours)*
• ACG 6255 International and Multinational Accounting (3 credit hours)
• ACG 6519 Seminar in Governmental and Nonbusiness Accounting and Auditing (3 credit hours)
• ACG 6685 Seminar in Fraud Auditing (3 credit hours)
• ACG 6805 Seminar in Accounting Theory (3 credit hours)
• ACG 6835 Seminar in Ethics and Professionalism in Accounting and Auditing (3 credit hours)
• ACG 6946 Graduate Accounting Internship (3 credit hours)
• TAX 5015 Advanced Tax Topics (3 credit hours)**
• TAX 6065 Tax Research (3 credit hours)
• TAX 6135 Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders (3 credit hours)
• TAX 6205 Partnership Taxation (3 credit hours)
• TAX 6405 Taxation of Estates and Gifts (3 credit hours)
• TAX 6845 Tax Planning and Consulting (3 credit hours)
• TAX 6505 International Taxation (3 credit hours)

Business Restricted Electives

• BUL 5332 Advanced Business Law Topics (3 credit hours)**
• ECO 6115 Economic Analysis of the Firm (3 credit hours)
• FIN 6406 Strategic Financial Management (3 credit hours)
• FIN 6425 Asset Management and Financial Decisions (3 credit hours)
• FIN 6475 Business Valuation (3 credit hours)
• FIN 6515 Analysis of Investment Opportunities (3 credit hours)
• ISM 6227 Management of Telecommunications (3 credit hours)
• ISM 6305 Information Resources Management (3 credit hours)
• ISM 6367 Strategic Information Systems (1.5 hours)
• ISM 6407 Decision Support Systems (1.5 hours)
• ISM 6485 Electronic Commerce (3 credit hours)
• ISM 6537 Quantitative Models for Business Decisions (3 credit hours)

* Students who have not completed ACG 3501 Financial Accounting for Governmental and Nonprofit Organizations, or its equivalent, must complete ACG 5517 Financial Accounting and Auditing for Governmental and Nonprofit Organizations or ACG 6519 Seminar in Governmental and Nonbusiness Accounting and Auditing. Either may be selected as an elective in the graduate program of study courses.

** Students planning to take the C.P.A. examination should include TAX 5015 Advanced Tax Topics and, if a second law course is needed, BUL 5332 Advanced Business Law Topics in their elective course selections.

Other Electives

The three additional elective courses may be chosen from the list of restricted electives above, including accounting, taxation, and other business electives. They may also be selected from other graduate courses offered in the College of Business Administration or from outside the college. Courses not on the restricted elective list should be selected with the students area of interest in mind and with approval of the program adviser. The university limits program of study courses outside the college to six semester hours.

Students must show clear evidence of proficiency in oral and written communication and computer usage.

Comprehensive Examination

Satisfactory completion of an end-of-program comprehensive examination is required. The M.S.A. program does not require a thesis.

Financial Support

Graduate students may receive financial assistance through fellowships, assistantships, tuition support, or loans. For more information, see Financing Grad School, which describes the types of financial assistance available at UCF and provides general guidance in planning your graduate finances. The Financial Information section of the Graduate Catalog is another key resource.

Key points about financial support:

• If you’re interested in financial assistance, you’re strongly encouraged to apply for admission early. A complete application for admission, including all supporting documents, must be received by the priority date listed for your program under "Admissions."
• You must be admitted to a graduate program before the university can consider awarding financial assistance to you.
• If you want to be considered for loans and other need-based financial assistance, review the UCF Student Financial Assistance website at http://finaid.ucf.edu and complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form, which is available online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. Apply early and allow up to six weeks for the FAFSA form to be processed.
• UCF Graduate Studies awards university graduate fellowships, with most decisions based on nominations from the colleges and programs. All admitted graduate students are automatically considered in this nomination process. To be eligible for a fellowship, students must be accepted as a graduate student in a degree program and be enrolled full-time. University graduate fellowships are not affected by FAFSA determination of need.
• Please note that select fellowships do require students to fill out a fellowship application (either a university fellowship application, an external fellowship application, or a college or school fellowship application). For university fellowship applications, see href="http://www.graduate.ucf.edu/sitemap/index.cfm?RsrcID=52&SubCatID=124" target="_blank">Financing Grad School
• For information on assistantships (including teaching, research, and general graduate assistantships) or tuition support, contact the graduate program director of your major.

Contact Info

Linda Savage, Ph.D. , Associate Professor
Phone Number: 407-823-5661
cbagrad@bus.ucf.edu or lsavage@bus.ucf.edu