Accounting (Great Valley)

The Master of Professional Accounting program  at  Penn State Great Valley  is taught by renowned faculty. Evening and hybrid courses delve into competencies covered in the CPA exam, including regulation, financial accounting and reporting, audition and attestation, and business environment and concepts. Students can expect to complete the 30-credit program in less than one year with a fall admission attending full-time, or two years if going part-time.

The program culminates in a capstone course that builds on previous coursework to develop analytical and presentation skills. Utilizing case studies, students will study investigative, consulting, and forensic accounting as they examine a current issue in regulation. Through this comprehensive project, they acquire a big-picture understanding of trends and issues, along with the critical-thinking skills to evaluate and debate them. The program is fully accredited by AACSB International.

Admission Requirements

Applicants apply for admission to the program via the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School application for admission. Requirements listed here are in addition to Graduate Council policies listed under GCAC-300 Admissions Policies.

Students who apply for admission should have completed course work substantially equivalent to an undergraduate degree in accounting. Applicants to the Penn State Great Valley M.P.Acc. program should also have a grade-point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in their final 60 credits of undergraduate course work, both overall as well as in accounting courses.

If the undergraduate major is not Accounting, an applicant must have completed the following minimum core of accounting course work (or its equivalent) with a final grade of B- or better:

GMAT/GRE scores are not required nor will they be accepted.

Degree Requirements

Master of Professional Accounting (M.P.Acc.)

Requirements listed here are in addition to Graduate Council policies listed under GCAC-700 Professional Degree Policies.

Students must complete a minimum of 30 credits at the 400, 500, or 800 level, with at least 18 at the 500 or 800 level, and a minimum of 9 credits at the 500 level. This includes 21 credits in the required core courses:

ACCTG 831 serves as the capstone course for this degree. This capstone course taken at the end of the program uses all the knowledge gained from prior coursework and applies them through presentation and analysis of case studies. Students will study investigative accounting, consulting, and litigation support activities undertaken in forensic accounting engagements through the use of case studies. This capstone course includes a final capstone project which emphasizes case analysis to develop critical thinking and analytical skills in the use of accounting reports for broad-based business analysis. In this capstone project, students examine a current issue in accounting and regulation. Through this comprehensive capstone project, students acquire a big-picture understanding of accounting trends and regulatory issues, along with the critical-thinking skills to evaluate and debate them.

Integrated Undergrad-Grad Programs

Integrated B.S. in Accounting and M.P.Acc. in Accounting

Undergraduate Degree

• Abington
• Altoona
• Berks
• Harrisburg
• World Campus

Graduate Degree

• Great Valley

Requirements listed here are in addition to requirements listed in GCAC-210 Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate (IUG) Degree Programs.

The IUG program offers exceptional students the ability to receive a B.S. in Accounting and a Master of Professional Accounting (MPAcc) within a five year period. Students are typically admitted into the integrated program at the end of their second year of their undergraduate studies, and then complete the IUG program over the next three years. Students must have completed no less than 60 credits to apply, and transfer students must have completed at least 15 credits at Penn State to enroll in the IUG.

Admission Requirements

Applicants apply for admission to the program via the Graduate School application for admission. Requirements listed here are in addition to Graduate Council policies listed under GCAC-300 Admissions Policies.

Students must apply to the program via the Graduate School application for admission, and must meet all the admission requirements of the Graduate School and the Accounting graduate program for the Master of Professional Accounting degree, as listed on the Admission Requirements tab. Before applying to the Graduate School, students must have completed entrance to their undergraduate major and have completed no less than 60 credits. Students must be admitted no later than the end of the second week of the semester preceding the semester of expected conferral of the undergraduate degree. Transfer students must have completed at least 15 credits at Penn State to enroll in an IUG. 

Applicants are required to submit GMAT or GRE scores. The GMAT/GRE requirement is waived for IUG applicants with an undergraduate GPA of 3.2 or higher.

In consultation with an adviser, students must prepare a plan of study appropriate to this integrated program, and must present their plan of study to the head of the graduate program overseeing the integrated program prior to being admitted to the program. The plan should cover the entire time period of the integrated program, and it should be reviewed periodically with an adviser as the student advances through the program. 

Degree Requirements

Students must fulfill all requirements for each degree in order to be awarded that degree, subject to the double-counting of credits as outlined below. Degree requirements for the B.S. in Accounting at Abington and Berks campuses are listed in the Undergraduate Bulletin. Degree requirements for the M.P.Acc. degree are listed on the Degree Requirements tab. 

The following is the list of courses which will double count for both the B.S. in Accounting and the Master of Professional Accounting. Up to 12 credits may be double counted towards the degree requirements of both undergraduate and graduate degrees; a minimum of 50% of the double counted credits must be at the 500 or 800 level.

Students must sequence their courses so that all undergraduate degree requirements are fulfilled before taking courses to count solely towards the graduate degree. Students must complete the undergraduate degree requirements within the typical time to degree for the undergraduate major. In the semester in which the undergraduate degree requirements will be completed, IUG students must apply to graduate, and the undergraduate degree should be conferred at the next appropriate Commencement. If students accepted into the IUG program are unable to complete the M.P.Acc. degree, they are still eligible to receive their undergraduate degree if all the undergraduate degree requirements have been satisfied.

Minor

A graduate minor is available in any approved graduate major or dual-title program. The default requirements for a graduate minor are stated in Graduate Council policy GCAC-218 Minors.

Student Aid

Refer to the Tuition & Funding section of the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School's website. Students in this program are not eligible for graduate assistantships.

Financial aid for students in on-campus programs is in the form of student loans and a limited number of small scholarships, as described on the Penn State Great Valley website.

Courses

Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 699 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.

Accounting (ACCT) Course List

Accounting (ACCTG) Course List

Business Law (BLAW) Course List

Professional Licensure/Certification

Many U.S. states and territories require professional licensure/certification to be employed. If you plan to pursue employment in a licensed profession after completing this program, please visit the Professional Licensure/Certification Disclosures by State interactive map.

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