For Graduates Only: The University of California Los Angeles Accounting Degree Programs

A Public Ivy, UCLA is the largest in the University of California system and has arguably the best reputation. We look at the University of California Los Angeles accounting degree programs and find out if the reputation is deserved.

University of California Los Angeles: Facts and Figures

UCLA has an impressive all-round pedigree in sports, science the arts and medicine, just to name a few. 

To demonstrate this, take a look at some of its achievements. The university has produced athletes who’ve won 250 Olympic medals, 13 Nobel Prize winners, 29 Academy Awards, and it created the internet. Hang on. What? Well, UCLA computer science professor Leonard Kleinrock led the team that laid the foundation for the internet as we know it today.

Situated in Westwood, near Hollywood, the college was founded in 1919 and is now home to around 42,000 students. In fact, UCLA is the most applied-to school in the nation, receiving 72,000 applications in 2012.

But this place has quality as well as quantity. UCLA is a consistently highly ranked university, with the US News and World Report rating it a very impressive second for overall public universities behind the University of Virginia.

John E Anderson School of Management

UCLA’s business school is the Anderson School of Management. The School offers only MBA and PhD degrees, so if you’re looking for a Bachelor’s degree with an accounting major you’ll have to look elsewhere.

However, the school does offer an accounting minor for undergraduates. We don’t think it’s the best preparation for a career in accounting compared to a major, but if it does interest you, there are specific course requirements you’ll have to keep in mind if you intend to sit the CPA exam in the future.

Even though part of a publicly funded university, the business school has recently become predominantly self-funded, giving up state funding in return for freedom from certain government rules. Critics have called this privatization, however the school still sees itself as a well-entrenched part of UCLA.

Anderson Accounting Master’s Program

The Anderson MBA is highly regarded, as displayed by it being ranked thirteenth by the US News and World Report in 2013.

The program consists of case study, experiential learning and team projects, pretty much in line with other MBA courses. The school claims it was the first management graduate school to implement field studies, back in 1967. Is there anything this place doesn’t claim it was first to do?

Students initially select from one of three tracks: consulting, finance or marketing. From there, you can drill down further into your area of focus by selecting one of 11 specializations, which include accounting. 

Anderson Accounting PhD Program

Anderson offers a well-credentialed and hard-to-get-in-to doctorate course, and a choice of seven areas of study, including accounting. Graduates have obtained positions as faculty at some of the most prestigious business universities in the world.

University of California Los Angeles Accounting Degree Program: Summary

Firstly, if you’re researching which college to do your undergraduate accounting degree at, we hope you stopped reading a couple of paragraphs ago. There’s not that much to see here.

But assuming you’re still reading this because you’re interested in an MBA with a focus on accounting, UCLA is a great option. The college’s business school is certainly one of the best in the country.

You’re right in the middle of one of the world’s largest and most exciting cities, on an historic and beautiful campus, albeit with some concerns over the crime rate.

We think UCLA is one of the country’s great all-round public universities. It’s got something for everyone, whether it’s the arts, sports, science or business. And that means if you’re in the market for an accounting-focused MBA, University of California Los Angeles accounting degree programs should be near the top of your list.