In fall 2014 the Goizueta Business School will launch its newest degree program, the BBA Masters in Professional Accounting (MPA) combined degree. The program is aimed at Goizueta BBA students interested in pursuing the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) exam. Given the recent change in credit hours at Emory, BBA students interested in professional accounting careers will find it hard to meet the education requirements to sit for the CPA exam within our four- semester BBA framework. The BBA/MPA degree program is designed to enable BBAs to complete master-level coursework while completing the requirements to sit for the CPA exam. Although educational models vary across states, almost all require the completion of 150 semester hours of post-secondary education, including a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university. In addition, the educational program must include an accounting concentration or its equivalent, as determined by the applicable state Board of Accountancy. A unique feature of our BBA/MPA program is that students gain valuable on-the-job accounting, auditing, tax, forensics, or advisory services experience by completing an internship in the spring semester of their senior year. Students are responsible for securing their own internship opportunities, with the assistance of the accounting faculty and the MPA program office as needed. These internships may be with our global, national, regional, or local accounting firm partners, the numerous corporations with which the school has established strong recruiting relationships, non-profit organizations, entrepreneurial start-up organizations, or pre-doctoral academic projects.
The program is available to interested students who enroll as juniors in the BBA program. Upon application, selected students begin taking MPA courses during the fall semester of their senior year. The combined program includes five full semesters of BBA/MPA coursework, and one semester of applied internship completed along with a course on professional development. The BBA/MPA is integrated in such a way that students do not complete the requirements for the BBA degree until after the 6th semester in the business school, so the bachelor’s and master’s degrees will be awarded concurrently.
Beginning in the fall 2015, a variation of the program will be available to students who enroll as BBAs in their sophomore year with sufficient credits to qualify for the CPA exam in the course of five semesters of enrollment in the BBA program. These students will complete a summer internship and can thus earn the same number of hours, complete the same courses and receive dual degrees in one less semester. An application and sample course schedule is available for download on the BBA Portal. For additional information, please contact Mary Sevier, Director of the MPA Program at Mary [dot] Sevier [at] emory [dot] edu.