[Newguy]

Long story short: I live in Pennsylvania, I have a BS in accounting, graduated 15 years ago, and have passed the CPA exam. I have 128 credits, so I need 22 more for the license. I want to go back and get a masters in something. Would it be redundant to get a masters in accounting since I already have the degree in it and one day have a (hopefully) CPA license? I was considering masters in finance or tax.

Opinions? Thanks.

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[taxgeek83]

I'm going to apply to Denver U for the fall quarter and see what the tuition numbers look like after scholarships and aid (if any). Tax is my focus – I know I want to stay in the tax field, so having the specialized degree will serve me better in the long run than just a plain masters in accountancy.

Any particular schools you're looking at?

P.S. A discussion we had a while ago on the tax focus:

https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/masters-in-tax

[Anonymous]

Do you already meet all of the specific course requirements for licensing in your state? If not I would check the degree plans you are interested in to make sure they will help you meet all licensing requirements.

[Yaz88]

Anything but Accounting! You already have your cpa exam done. get something that will add value to you.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, make sure you meet Pennsylvania's requirements.

For Ohio we need 150 credit hours of education. 30 hours needs to be in Accounting classes. The other 120 can be in anything I guess.

So if PA has an Accounting Course requirement and you meet that, it might be time to go after the Master's of Art History that you've always been thinking about.

[MTB15]

Yeah…I wouldn't do the masters in Accounting. If you really want the graduate degree I'd do Finance like you mentioned or a standard Business/MBA. You'd be pretty well set for any education requirement.

[Anonymous]

The big thing would be to check how many more upper level accounting courses you need to get your license. My school's MBA program only had one upper level accounting course and I needed 4 or 5, so I had to go the MAcc route.

[fuzyfro89]

With 22 more credits needed, you are almost certainly going to need to return to school full time for more than 1 semester. Most MACC programs are completed in 1 yr and will get you 30+ credits… if I am not mistaken.

The bigger question is how is your career going? Do you already have gainful employment in the accounting field (or whichever CPA-related field you chose)? If you do, then find some part time program and get experience while you can. If you do not, then it warrants further discussion to determine if a MACC from a good program (i.e. one that companies/firms you are interested in actively recruit), or even an MBA.

I will admit I am biased again a MBA for people without good prior experience, as it's longer and more expensive than a MACC and won't really get you any more pay despite taking more time and costing you more in tuition. Any other factors you can share with us that may be relevant?

[Author]

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