2025-2026 Graduate Catalog Accounting

To be certified for the CPA examination in Illinois, a candidate must successfully completed at least 150 semester hours of acceptable credit and earn a baccalaureate or higher degree. The semester hours accepted by the Board must include an accounting concentration or its equivalent. A candidate will be deemed to have met the education requirement if, as a part of the 150 semester hours of education or equivalent as determined by the Board, he or she has earned a graduate degree with a concentration in accounting from a program that is accredited in accounting by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) and the Integrated Bachelor of Science (BS) Master of Professional Accountancy (MPA) are accredited by the AACSB.

More details on the educational requirements to sit for the CPA examination can be found at https://www.ilboe.org/.

Degree Offered: M.S.

This 30-hour stem-designated degree requires:

• A comprehensive examination administered near the end of the final semester of course study
• 6 hours: ACC 430 and BIS 471

• 9 hours of 400-level accounting or BIS analytics-focused electives: choose from ACC 437, ACC 451, ACC 452, ACC 453, BIS 420, BIS 466, BIS 473, BIS 482             
• 15 credit hours taken from the following:
  • A minimum of 3 credit hours must be from graduate accounting electives: This includes all ACC 400-level graduate accounting courses including ACC 431 ,  ACC 434 ,  ACC 435 ,  ACC 439 , ACC 410,  ACC 440 ,  ACC 444 ,  ACC 446 ,  ACC 447 , and ACC 497. This excludes classes deemed to be Business Information Systems courses like ACC 451 and ACC 453.
  • A minimum of 3 credit hours must be from graduate business electives: This includes all BIS, FIL, MBA, MGT or MKT 300- or 400-level graduate courses.  ACC 451 and ACC 453  count here as business electives.

A course that satisfies one requirement cannot satisfy another program requirement. Please see your academic advisor for program planning.

The College of Business only allows students to repeat a course once. Students who earn a “W” grade in either attempt must apply for permission to complete a third enrollment.

The following course will not count toward the M.S. in Accountancy because it is a foundation/deficiency course: MBA 450.

The 150-hour B.S. (min. 120 hours) and M.P.A. (min. 30 hours of graduate level coursework) integrated program is designed for students wishing to complete both degrees at Illinois State University. The B.S. degree is awarded after completion of the undergraduate degree requirements and the M.P.A. degree is awarded after completion of the graduate degree requirements.

Core courses: Students selecting either sequence must complete the following:

• Undergraduate: BUS 100; ACC 131, ACC 132, ACC 230, ACC 231, ACC 232, ACC 233, ACC 235, ACC 260, ACC 261, ACC 263, ACC 270, FIL 185, ACC 240, MKT 230; MGT 100, ACC 220, ACC 227, ACC 385; ECO 101 and ACC 102; ENG 145A13; MAT 121 or ACC 145. (Note: MAT 120 is a prerequisite for MAT 121)
• Graduate: ACC 430, and either BIS 471 or BIS 482.

Accountancy and Information Systems Sequence

In addition to core courses, students must complete 27 hours (24 graduate and 3 undergraduate) as follows:

Undergraduate:

• 3 hours: BIS 368

Graduate:

• 9  hours: 400-level accounting electives chosen from ACC 431, ACC 434, ACC 435, ACC 437, ACC 439, ACC 452, ACC 498
• 9 hours: 400-level BIS electives chosen from ACC 451, ACC 453, BIS 420, BIS 466, BIS 468, BIS 471, BIS 473, BIS 482
• 6 hours: 400-level accounting or business electives 

Professional Accountancy Sequence

In addition to core courses, students must complete 27 hours of accounting and business electives (24 graduate and 3 undergraduate):

Undergraduate:

• 3 hours: 300-level accounting electives chosen from ACC 330, ACC 334, ACC 336, ACC 337, ACC 340, ACC 353, ACC 398

Graduate:

• 9 hours: 400-level accounting electives chosen from ACC 431, ACC 434, ACC 435, ACC 437, ACC 439, ACC 452, ACC 498
• 9 hours: 400-level accounting electives
• 3 hours: 400-level accounting elective OR 400-level BIS elective
• 3 hours: 400-level business elective chosen from outside the accounting discipline 

BS/MPA Policies

A course that satisfies one requirement cannot satisfy another program requirement. Please see your academic advisor for program planning.

NOTE:  Students in either sequence who wish to enhance their chances of passing the CPA examination should include in their Plan of Study the following advanced accounting courses: ACC 444, ACC 446, ACC 447.

The College of Business only allows students to repeat a course once. Students who earn a W grade in either attempt must apply for permission to complete a third enrollment.

This certificate provides training with programming tools designed specifically for data analysis such as Python programming language and R programming language. Data management will be explored including data preparation, data exploration, data representation, data discovery and data cleansing. Finally, the application of data analysis tools to existing big data sets will be performed.

This 9-hour certificate requires successful completion with a grade of B or better in each of the following courses:

• BIS 466, BIS 471 and BIS 420 

This graduate certificate provides exposure to issues related to accounting fraud, understanding the theory of accounting fraud, and application of tools and procedures to detect and correct accounting fraud.

This 9-hour certificate requires successful completion with a grade of B or better in each of the following courses: 

• ACC 451, ACC 452 and ACC 453