Professional Accounting Major (M.S.)

The Stillman School’s Department of Accounting and Taxation offers Master of Science (M.S.) degrees in accounting and professional accounting.

Note: Program directors must be consulted concerning prerequisite coursework, course sequencing and choice of electives. Students lacking prerequisite knowledge may need to successfully complete additional coursework/credits or part of the M.B.A. Pre-Qualification Sequence in order to fulfill the M.S. requirements. Additional program-specific requirements are included under each degree and are subject to change as required by the Stillman School.

Mission Statement - Department of Accounting and Taxation

We prepare students to be leaders in a dynamic accounting profession. Building on student learning in the University and the Stillman school, we strive to create an engaging educational environment that focuses on knowledge of accounting disciplines, collecting and managing accounting data, problem solving, communications skills, and professional leadership.

Master of Science in Professional Accounting

Adviser: Mark P. Holtzman, Ph.D.

Seton Hall’s Master of Science in Professional Accounting is intended to help students meet the 150-credit hour requirement, which will enable accounting majors to qualify to sit for the CPA exam in the state of New Jersey and several other states. This curriculum, also suited for accountants seeking to upgrade their skills, was developed in collaboration with top-level specialists to provide a practical graduate accounting education.

Degree Requirements

Completion of the M.S. in Professional Accounting requires a minimum of 30 credits of approved coursework, composed of 18 credit hours of accounting and taxation courses and 12 credit hours of graduate business courses.

Three restrictions apply:

• no course may be transferred if it has been applied to a prior degree;
• a minimum of 24 credit hours of coursework must be completed at the Stillman School; and
• students may not repeat courses taken previously at the graduate or undergraduate level.

As part of the graduation requirements for the M.S. in Professional Accounting, students are required to successfully participate in an assessment panel and complete a post- assessment test, preferably in their last semester before graduation.

Prerequisite Knowledge

Bachelor’s degree in accounting or equivalent, and the following courses or equivalent:

• 3 credits of taxation of business entities (or essential of taxation)
• 3 credits of auditing
• 3 credits of advanced accounting
• 3 credits of cost accounting
• 3 credits of statistics
• 3 credits of database management

Prerequisites not satisfied before admission can be satisfied with specific accounting/tax or graduate business electives taken as part of the degree program.

Course Sequence and Program Length

Candidates for the master’s degree are expected to fulfill all degree requirements within a maximum of five years after they have begun their studies. The program can be completed in approximately one year (evenings only).

M.S./Professional Accounting Curriculum 

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses
BACC 7127	Enterprise- Wide Accounting Information Systems II	3
BACC 7136	Big Data, Analytics and Business Impact	3
BACC 8001	Financial Accounting Seminar	3
or BTAX 6003	Tax Research
BLAW 7314	Commercial Law	3
BSAN 7001	Intro Data Analytics - Bus Int	3
Accounting and Taxation Electives
Select nine credits of electives *		9
Graduate Business Electives
Select six credits **		6
Total Hours		30

*

Graduate accounting/tax electives that do not duplicate undergraduate courses.

**

Choose from any approved graduate business courses at the 6000 level or higher. Accounting Internship courses can be taken as graduate business electives.