History of Success

The Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAc) degree is designed to prepare students for professional careers in the field of accounting. When you enter our program, you will have the opportunity to work closely with our nationally-recognized accounting and business faculty, using state-of-the-art technology. With the assistance of an advisor, students will formulate a graduate program that will integrate their educational background, areas of interest and career path.

Our accounting program has a long history of success. For over twenty-five years the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy has often included this program among the top ten in the nation for our students' pass rate on the CPA exam.

This emphasis on excellence has created a high demand for our accounting graduates. Companies from most states in the western United States recruit on campus. Our graduates are employed by international public accounting firms, regional and local public accounting firms, corporations, and federal and state government entities.

Mission & Goals

The mission of the Master of Professional Accountancy program is to prepare students for professional careers in accounting.  Candidates for the degree will build on the broad general and business education obtained at the undergraduate level to gain more advanced competencies in the practice and theory of financial accounting, auditing, taxation, law, and other business and professional areas.  Students will also be introduced to research methods and resources used by accounting professionals. Goals include:

• To produce graduates who will have long-term success in their accounting careers.
• To prepare our graduates to meet the educational requirements recommended by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
• To provide our students with access to professional opportunities through career placement services.

The Curriculum

All students meet with the graduate program director during their first semester of graduate study. This conference is intended to assist the student in formulating a graduate program that integrates the student's background and areas of interest, and in completing the student's required Program of Study form.

The master's program requires a minimum of 30 semester hours of acceptable course work beyond a bachelor degree. A minimum of 21 credits of course work must be taken on campus at Montana State University-Bozeman. The number of required credit hours may vary, depending on prior course work. Students with a degree in accounting generally complete their course work in one full year (two or three semesters).

Required Courses:

The following six graduate classes, totalling 18 credits, are required:

In addition, students are required to complete 12 semester credit hours of approved electives in accounting and business; consideration is given to 400/500 level courses in: accounting, agricultural economics, business education, computer science, economics, education, finance, industrial & management engineering, management, marketing, psychology, public administration and statistics.

Academic Requirements

Students are required to achieve at least a 3.0 GPA each semester and maintain at least a cumulative GPA of 3.0 at all times while in the Master of Professional Accountancy program. Additionally, students with provisional admittances will be required to adhere to the provisions of their admittance.

Applicants With Non-Accounting Bachelor Degrees

In addition to meeting the requirements listed above, applicants who do not have an undergraduate degree in accounting may have to complete additional course work. Depending on the number of background courses to be taken, a student may have to remain in non-degree graduate status until the background course work is completed. Completion of the background courses does not guarantee admission into the MPAc program.

The requirements listed below assume no prior background in business or accounting.  An applicant with a degree in a business area other than accounting may have fulfilled several of the courses.  The MPAc Advisory Council will assess the applicant's transcript and determine which background courses have been fulfilled.  An applicant with a non-business degree must be within 15 credits of completing all of the required background courses before he or she will be considered for admission into the MPAc program.  Note that there may be additional courses in economics, statistics, and business software applications required to satisfy the pre-requisites for the background business courses.

Background Courses

* Nine credits of these four 400-level accounting courses may be used as elective credit for the MPAc program. Non-degree graduate students completing these background courses prior to applying for admission to the MPAc program must earn a grade of "B" or higher for these credits to count toward the MPAc degree.

Length of Program

Students with an undergraduate degree in accounting generally complete the MPAc program in one full year (two or three semesters).

Students having an undergraduate degree in business, but not accounting, must complete course work equivalent to that for an undergraduate accounting degree at Montana State University, which averages approximately 3 semesters of additional study. 

Students with an undergraduate degree in a non-business area must complete a common body of knowledge in business courses (finance, information systems, law, management, and marketing) in addition to the undergraduate accounting courses, which averages approximately 2.5 years of additional study.

Transfer Credits

A maximum of nine (9) graduate credits taken at another accredited four-year college or university may be transferred and accepted toward a degree at Montana State University.  For further details, please consult the Graduate Catalog.

Program Load

Nine (9) to fifteen (15) semester credits is considered a full graduate load for a student in the Master of Professional Accountancy program.

Application Deadlines

Application Process

Students interested in applying to the MPAc program must fill out either an online or paper Application for Graduate Admission.

The following documents are required in order for your application to be considered complete and eligible for review:

• Application and application fee
• GPA calculation sheet
• Official transcripts from each university attended (MSU transcripts past 1988 need not be submitted)
• Official entrance exam scores (GRE or GMAT)
• Three letters of recommendation. These letters should be confidential letters mailed directly by the writer to the College of Business Office of Student Services. Letters should be written by people who are able to judge your ability to succeed in graduate school, e.g., your undergraduate accounting professors, a CPA who served as your supervisor during an internship, other faculty. Please do not ask for letters of recommendation from family members, friends, roommates, etc.
• One page essay about your motivations for entering the program
• International students must also submit official TOEFL or IELTS scores, financial certificate with supporting documents, and degree certificates

Return paper application materials to:

Office of Student Services
College of Business
338 Reid Hall
P.O. Box 173040
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717-3040
U.S.A.

The professional program in accountancy is a selective program with a limited number of openings available to qualified students. The MPAc Advisory Council will admit those students whose previous academic performance and/or work experience indicate a desire and ability to excel. Test scores and records of academic performance (with close scrutiny of grades earned in 300 & 400-level accounting courses) are evaluated individually in the admissions procedure. Of equal importance, however, are the applicant's personal qualifications, accomplishments and letters of recommendation. The applicant's entire file is reviewed in order to ensure the admission of those with the highest aptitude, motivation and qualifications.

Financial assistance

The College of Business offers scholarships for graduate students.  Application is made during the month of November only and is an electronic application (no paper copy).  Students who wish to be considered for a scholarship should contact Halina Rickman in the Dean's office.

A limited number of graduate teaching assistantships are also available to fully admitted graduate students and are awarded on a competitive basis.

Graduate teaching assistantship positions may be for one or two semesters. Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) provide support to faculty and tutoring services for students. In exchange, the GTAs receive some tuition waiver credits and a small monthly stipend.

International students:  please read about the Financial Certificate.

For more details on financial aid, please see Financial Aid Services homepage.

Other Resources

• MPAc Frequently Asked Questions
• Division of Graduate Education
• Office of International Programs
• College of Business