Arizona State University is also featured in our ranking 30 Top Affordable Master’s in Accounting/Master’s of Accountancy Degree Programs.
Master of Accountancy
The W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University ranks as one of the world’s top business schools. Students who graduate from this school can network with alumni and take part in events designed to help them find good jobs. This school offers a Master of Accountancy program that students can finish in only nine months. Students who complete the program will meet the requirements necessary to sit for the CPA exam. It features a two-day orientation session at the end of the summer and classes start right after this session.
More than 90% of the graduates of this accounting program find work in the finance or accounting field within six months of finishing their degrees. Instead of requiring that students do a thesis or a final project, Arizona State University asks students to take nine classes that give them a broad overview of the accounting profession today. Internal Controls Audit and Fraud Prevention and Detection is a unique class that goes over the ways to detect fraud and what to do when a professional finds signs of fraud or illegal activities.
This program also features a Taxes and Business Strategy course that teaches students how to create a tax plan for a business and how to file the taxes for that company. They also learn more about taking deductions and using tax loopholes. This Arizona State University program features courses on taxes and accounting principles related to nonprofit organizations and private corporations too.
About Arizona State University
Though sometimes called a party school, the Arizona State University worked hard to change its reputation and show students that they could get a solid education there. Founded in 1885, the university started out as the Territorial Normal School, which offered opportunities for students before Arizona became a state. Though it had multiple names over the years before becoming a university, it often focused on educational programs that prepared students to be good teachers in the field. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the school became a full university and began offering programs in other subjects. This also led to the university adding graduate and doctoral programs to its curriculum.
Arizona State, as many call it, now operates four campuses in and around Tempe. Each of those campuses focuses on a different field or type of education. One example is the campus, which is a joint effort between the university and the Mayo Clinic devoted to medical and health science studies. Arizona State is one of the world’s best schools. QS and Times both ranked it among the world’s best. U.S. News & World Report considers the university one of the best in the nation and in the world. Also called ASU, the university has a total enrollment across all campuses and all levels of more than 72,000 students, which makes it one of the largest schools in the United States.
Arizona State University Accreditation Details
Though many prospective college students hear the term accreditation, many do not understand what it means or why they should look for it. Regional accreditation, which Arizona State has from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCACS) of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), is important because it ensures that the university does a good job of providing resources and opportunities for its students. NCACS accreditation also gives transfer students the option of transferring credits into the program they want to study. They can also use that accreditation when applying for financial aid. ASU has specialty accreditation as well, including accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB).
Arizona State University Application Requirements
Arizona State offers waivers for prospective students who meet some prerequisites. Those who have an undergrad grade point average of 3.0 and 3.25 receive a waiver that covers the application fee. Students who have a GPA of 3.25 to 3.75 receive an application fee waiver and do not need to submit a GMAT score. If a student applying has a GPA of 3.75 to 4.0, he or she receives an application fee waiver and can skip submitting a GMAT score or letters of recommendation. Those students only need to fill out the graduate student application and provide a professional resume.
The university requires that incoming students take some prerequisite courses, including Fundamentals of Finance, Intermediate Financial Accounting and Enterprise Process Analysis and Design. Students can show that they already took those courses with the transcripts they submit to the university, or they can take those classes in the summer before starting the full program. ASU requires that students receive at least a C grade in each class.
Students who do not meet the GPA requirements may need to provide the university with official transcripts from the schools where they earned their undergrad degrees and an official GMAT score. ASU offers application fee waivers for military students but asks that those students contact the university to receive a code they can use when submitting the application.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Graduate students attending Arizona State pay more than $23,000 a year if they come from outside of the state. Residents of Arizona pay a rate of more than $11,000 a year also. This does not include fees or any of the personal expenses that students face. The university charges a tuition rate for all online students of around $12,500 a year. This covers all the fees they pay as well as the tuition that lets them take a full course load during each semester.
Financial aid packages help students bridge the gap between what they owe to the university and what they can afford to spend. In some cases, it may even cover the entire costs that the student faces and give him or her some extra cash for the school year. Students who complete the FAFSA will know within a few months or less if they qualify for financial aid such as grants from the state government and loans from the federal government. Subsidized loans are helpful because the government does not charge any interest on those loans as long as the students are still in school. Arizona State University accepts all the different types of loans available for graduate students, including unsubsidized and PLUS loans from the government and private student loans.