Program Fundamentals
The Freeman School’s Joint BSM-MACCT program allows students to graduate in five years with two degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Management (BSM) in the major of their choice (Finance, Legal Studies, Management or Marketing) and a Master of Accounting (MACCT) degree. Students in this program will complete 122 undergraduate credit hours for the BSM degree and an additional 30 graduate credit hours for the MACCT degree.
Students work closely with their faculty advisor to develop a custom program plan to meet their personal and professional goals. Students can take advantage of several opportunities found only at Freeman:
- Preparing to take the CPA exam in the state of their choosing is strongly encouraged. The faculty advisor will help select courses to fulfill state-specific requirements.
- Adding an area of specialization (e.g. Analytics, Energy, Entrepreneurship, Risk Management, Strategic and Innovation Management, Structured Finance, or Taxation) allows students to tailor their education to their interests.
- Completing a “busy season” or summer internship gives students on-the-ground training and often leads to future opportunities.
Degree Requirements
Undergraduate Course Requirements
A student must complete a minimum of 122 hours of undergraduate coursework, including all requirements for the BSM degree and all prerequisites for the MACCT program. BSM students must choose an undergraduate major in the Freeman School and complete the requirements for that major (Finance, Legal Studies, Management, or Marketing).
Joint BSM-MACCT program students should consult the BSM handbook for curriculum, course descriptions, rules and regulations governing the undergraduate portion of the program.
Graduate Course Requirements
In addition to completing all BSM requirements, a MACCT student must complete 30 credit hours of approved graduate coursework, 18 hours of which must be graduate-level work in the accounting/taxation area. If a student has taken the undergraduate equivalent of any required graduate courses, the student must substitute approved graduate elective courses to bring the graduate-level credits earned at the Freeman School to 30 hours. A Joint BSM-MACCT student must complete the following 15 hours of required graduate-level courses and 15 hours of elective graduate-level courses:
Required Courses (15 Credit Hours)
- ACCN 7100 Ethics in Accounting and Finance (3)
- ACCN 7110 Auditing (3)
- ACCN 7120 Advanced Financial Accounting (3)
- ACCN 7140 Advanced Managerial Accounting (3)
- TAXN 7100 Principles of Entity Taxation (3)
Elective Courses (15 Credit Hours)
Students may select 15 hours of graduate elective credit from an approved list of electives. Students will work with the faculty advisor to select elective courses with the following considerations:
- Fulfilling specific State Board of Accountancy requirements in the state where they choose to be eligible to sit for the CPA exam;
- Completing an optional specialization;
- Pursuing academic and professional interests.
Up to three hours of electives may come from one of the following internships:
- ACCN 7550 Public Accounting Internship (busy-season) 3
- ACCN 7560 Professional Accounting Internship (summer) 3
Undergraduate Coursework Requiring Graduate-Level Substitutions
A faculty advisor may waive core courses taken as an undergraduate, if, in consultation with the MACCT faculty director, they are judged equivalent to the respective MACCT required courses. Students must replace any waived courses with approved elective courses in order to complete 30 semester hours. Once admitted to the Joint BSM-MACCT program, students should consult the MACCT handbook for curriculum, course descriptions, rules and regulations governing the graduate portion of the program.
Internship Options
Students have the option to complete a full-time internship, either during the spring semester (“the busy season internship”) or over the summer. Students earn 3 graduate credit hours for the internship after submitting related academic requirements.
The busy season internship (ACCN 7550) is a full-time internship during the spring semester with an international or regional public accounting firm.
- Prerequisites: Auditing (ACCN 7110) and Principles of Entity Taxation (TAXN 7100).
- Because this internship is full-time, students may not take additional coursework while participating in the internship.
- Students earn 3 graduate credit hours.
- Students return to Tulane after their internship and complete 9 credit hours in an intensive format from mid-April through mid-May so that they qualify for existing financial aid and scholarship funds as full-time students.
The summer internship (ACCN 7560) is full-time, for a minimum of 10 weeks, generally completed during the summer.
- Prerequisites: Auditing (ACCN 7110) and Principles of Entity Taxation (TAXN 7100).
- Students should seek approval for ACCN 7560 from their faculty advisor.
- Internships include, but are not limited to, accounting-related functions in public accounting, industry, banking, hospitals, government, not-for-profit, universities, CPA firms, or service organizations.
- Students earn 3 graduate credit hours
Admission Requirements
To be considered for admission to the Joint BSM-MACCT program, students must:
- Be currently enrolled in the BSM program (a 3.0 or higher GPA in business courses is recommended);
- Successfully complete Intermediate Financial Accounting I (ACCN 3100);
- Successfully complete, or be currently enrolled in, Intermediate Financial Accounting II (ACCN 4110). If the student is enrolled in ACCN 4110 at the time of application and is subsequently admitted to the program, participation in the Joint BSM-MACCT program is contingent upon successful completion of ACCN 4110;
- Submit a completed application including scores from the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), no sooner than one semester prior to taking their first graduate course. (If students have a grade point average of 3.0 or greater in ACCN 2010 and ACCN 3010, the GMAT requirement is waived.)
Current students are encouraged to log into Gibson and select Degree Works Audit to check their progress and to meet with their Business Academic Advisor to review course selection.
