Accounting MPA

Overview

The College of Business and Economic Development offers the Master of Professional Accountancy (MPA) degree.

The Southern Miss Master of Professional Accountancy (MPA) program prepares graduates for a wide variety of employment opportunities and helps students meet the course and credit eligibility requirements for the nationally administered Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam.  In addition, MPA students gain experience with analytics software and achieve certification in Microsoft Excel at both Specialist and Expert levels, along with a variety of other certifications and digital badges. The MPA program has achieved exceptional placement for graduates seeking employment, with students being recruited by local, regional, national and international accounting firms, private industries, not-for-profit and government agencies. 

A student who earns a bachelor’s degree with a major in accounting from a business school accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business - International (AASCB), or a four-year college or university regionally accredited in the United States, may typically complete the MPA program on a full-time basis in one calendar year. A minimum of thirty (30) hours of graduate work is required. Students may apply for entry into the MPA program at any time to commence coursework in the subsequent academic period. A part-time program is also available.

To be eligible for admission to the MPA program, applicants must have successfully completed the following courses or equivalent:

• Applied Calculus for Business 3 hrs.
• Principles of Economics 6 hrs.
• Managerial Statistics I 3 hrs.
• Management for Organizations 3 hrs.
• Legal Environment of Business 3 hrs.
• Advanced Business Law 3 hrs.
• Principles of Finance 3 hrs.
• Global Managerial Policy and Strategy 3 hrs.
• Principles of Marketing 3 hrs.

The following accounting courses are also required:

• Introduction to Financial Accounting 3 hrs.
• Intermediate Accounting 6 hrs.
• Auditing 3 hrs.
• Accounting Information Systems 3 hrs.
• Cost Accounting 3 hrs.
• Income Tax Accounting 3 hrs.
• Government and Not-for-Profit Accounting 3 hrs.

Campus: Hattiesburg

Admission Requirements

In addition to adhering to the Admission Requirements and Procedures , the master’s program applicant must:

1. Have completed prerequisite undergraduate course requirements set forth above.   
2. Have submitted a professional resume and statement of purpose (personal essay). 
3. Three letters of recommendation from academic and/or professional sources.
4. International students applying to the MPA program are required to submit their official transcripts to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) for evaluation in order for their MPA application to be processed by the Graduate School.  This NASBA evaluation will determine if the international baccalaureate degree in accounting is eligible for MPA program admission, but does not guarantee admission.  The cost of this NASBA evaluation begins at $240 USD and may take 8 weeks or more to complete.  See www.nasba.org/products/nasbainternationalevaluationservices for additional information.

Program Requirements and Academic Policies

See General Degree Requirements , General Academic Information  and Research Policies . 

Course Requirements (30 hours)

A minimum of 30 hours of graduate level business courses must be taken with at least 27 hours at the 600 level..  ACC 611 and FIN 611 do not count towards the 30 graduate business hours required for the MPA degree. The following courses are required to earn the degree:

• ACC 605 - Current Accounting Theory & Research 3 hrs.
• ACC 608 - Financial Statement Analysis & Business Valuation 3 hrs.
• ACC 610 - Advanced Auditing 3 hrs.
• ACC 615 - Audit Analytics and IT Auditing 3 hrs.
• ACC 620 - Advanced Cost Accounting Analytics 3 hrs.
• ACC 630 - Corporate and Partnership Taxation 3 hrs.
• ACC 631 - Advanced Tax Topics 3 hrs.
• Approved Graduate Business Electives 9 hrs. *