BYU's Accounting Degree Programs : Tough But Very Rewarding

Let's take a look the accounting degree programs on offer at Brigham Young University (BYU).

Located in Provo (Utah), their business department is called the Marriott School of Management. And it is named after the hotel chain of the same name which was founded by J Willard Marriott back in 1927. His legacy of success is in fitting with BYU's highly held undergraduate and masters programs rankings.

BYU's programs (undergraduate & graduate) are housed under the School of Accountancy (SOA) and they've boasted a near 100% job placement record over the last few years. You won't be surprised to know that it's very, very competitive to get a place in this college.

BS Accountancy (Bachelor of Science in Accountancy)

BYU are quite forthcoming with the number of applicants to their accounting degree programs. For the BS Accountancy they receive 300 to 400 hundred applications per year. And they usually accept around 265 students.

But taking the BS Accountancy course doesn't mean you get stuck into accounting from day 1. Far from it.  Your freshman/sophomore years are more about a broad-based education with some accounting classes thrown in for good measure. 

It's once you hit your junior year (Year 3) that the focus on accounting (your major) starts to kick in.

However, the deal is that before you can get into BYU's accountancy program (and join the Marriott School) you need to have completed six accounting focused courses. Or to put it another way, if you want to major in accounting you need to have completed these courses during your first two years. 

And not only that – you need to have a minimum GPA of 3. And if you've had to retest for any exams during the way you get pretty harsh treatment.   

But none of this should be a surprise. As one's of the nation's best accounting degree programs you can't expect anything less.

MAcc Program (Master of Accountancy)

Masters accounting degree programs don't come much better/tougher than BYU's offering. 

With roughly 160 students entering the program each year (many of them from the BS Accountancy stream), an impressive 95% of them get job offers before they've finished the course. And the vast majority of the remaining 5% are placed within two months of graduation.

The School of Accountancy is very clear that their students go to major employers including the big four (Ernst & Young, KPMG, Deloitte & PwC).

In terms of timing, the MAcc degree program will take you anywhere between eighteen months to twenty four months to complete. It's full-time and you can't take evening classes.

As one of the top courses out there the entry conditions are tough. Fairly obviously, you'll need to have taken an undergraduate accounting program like BYU's BS Accountancy or from another accredited institution. If you haven't then you can still apply as long you undertake a range of twelve courses that cover business fundamentals and core accounting. There's no way round this.

Another key consideration will be your sepcialization (sometimes referred to as an elective). in the MAcc's case it's between Professional Accountancy or Tax. By the time you've completed your undergrsaduation program you'll have a good fell for which way you'll be leaning.

Now, try not get dis-heartened but you know the best accounting degree programs can be fairly demanding when it comes to your GPA. Well, Masters of Accountancy students average around 3.70. That's why the MAcc is so highly regarded.

Internships

A key feature of any accounting course will always be internships. BYU is no different and you'd be for not integrating an internship into your program.

BYU's Accounting Degree Programs & the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification

Somewhat surprisingly, BYU is very vague about this. They do say they don't have a CPA exam preparation course. But confirm their curriculum is good enough to mean that only a “limited review” is required to pass professional examinations...if the student picks their course well. What “limited review” means is very open to interpretation.

There's no doubting the success of BYU students passing the CPA exams but you'll need to do your homework here to make sure that your state's education requirements are being met.

So, there you have the details on BYU's accounting degree programs. Head on over there to get further information and drop us a note to let us know what you think.