Accounting (Graduate Program)

 For information regarding the UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM, click here.  

Program Overview

The Master of Accountancy program at LSU (MAcc) is designed to provide students with a greater understanding of accounting and business than is possible in an undergraduate program. The MAcc student will develop superior technical accounting knowledge, strong analytical skills, strong written and oral communication skills, and highly developed interpersonal skills. The program prepares students for careers as professional accountants in public practice, industry, financial institutions, government, and nonprofit organizations. The MAcc requires 30 hours of non-thesis coursework. The program is primarily designed for those with undergraduate preparation in accounting; however, exceptional candidates from other disciplines may be considered. Upon completion of the program, a student should have completed Louisiana’s 150-hour educational requirement for the CPA examination.

The accounting doctoral program is designed to prepare doctoral students for successful careers at peer universities or better and to provide them with the skills needed to publish independent research in high quality accounting research journals. The Department of Accounting is committed to excellence in teaching. Teaching is an integral part of an academic position in accounting and students acquire teaching experience as a part of the doctoral program.

Administration

Admission

Applications and supporting materials for all graduate study must be submitted through the online application site for the LSU Graduate School. Official transcripts, official test scores, and other materials from third-party sources must be mailed to: LSU Office of Graduate Admissions, 114 West David Boyd Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. These paper documents are stored electronically and departments have access to all materials submitted by and/or on behalf of a student applying to graduate study. For doctoral program applicants, a copy of application materials (including a summary sheet) should be sent (through email or standard mail) to the PhD advisor. Three recommendation letters are required and the applicants should mail the sealed recommendation letters directly to the PhD advisor.

Master’s program

Applications for admission are received and evaluated by the department. Students can be admitted in the fall, spring, or summer semesters. The deadline for submitting an application for consideration into the MAcc program is March 15 for summer and fall entry and October 15 for spring entry. Students seeking admission must submit satisfactory credentials from previous study, acceptable GMAT scores (if applicable), and three letters of recommendation. International students whose native language is not English must also submit an acceptable TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE score. If the applicant has or will have an undergraduate degree in accounting from LSU and at least an overall GPA of 3.7, the GMAT exam requirement will be waived.

Admission will be considered by the faculty application committee only after the respective deadlines. If a student does not meet all requirements, he or she may be admitted provisionally. For example, a student may be admitted provisionally to the master’s program if he or she lacks one or two prerequisites and is working to complete them. Applications submitted after the deadlines will be considered on a rolling basis.

Doctoral program

Applications for admission are received and evaluated by the department. The department’s PhD committee will start to evaluate all applications around mid-January. Applicants must adhere to the application deadlines established by the Graduate School. Students seeking admission must submit satisfactory credentials from previous study, acceptable GMAT scores, three letters of recommendation, a resumé, and a personal statement. On the personal statement, students should provide an assessment of their writing ability and quantitative skills including any training in economics, calculus, statistics and computer programming as well as a personal background and his or her purpose in pursuing a doctorate degree. International students whose native language is not English and who do not have a diploma from a U.S. school when entering into the PhD program must also submit an acceptable TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE score.

Financial Assistance

Master’s program

Financial support is available for selected graduate students in the form of assistantships. Currently, these part-time assistantships pay a stipend of $6,000 per academic year for selected Masters of Accountancy students. Students interested in applying for graduate assistantships should contact the MAcc Director of Graduate Studies. To ensure consideration for financial aid, all application materials should be submitted in accordance with deadlines established by the LSU Graduate School.

Doctoral program

Financial support is available for selected graduate students in the form of assistantships. These graduate assistantships currently carry a stipend of $27,000 and full tuition exemption. Students must pay applicable fees.

Graduate Faculty

(check current faculty listings by department here)

Sanaz Sheila Aghazadeh (6A) • Judgment and decision making, specifically as they relate to the audit profession.
William Lawrence Buslepp (6A) • Empirical Auditing and Capital Markets
Zhenhau Chen (6A) • Financial Accounting and Capital Markets
B. Charlene Henderson (6A) •Business Taxation, Financial Accounting and Reporting, and Financial Institutions
Joseph Legoria (M) • Financial Accounting and Reporting, Securities and Exchange Commission and Regulatory Accounting Issues
Jacquelyn Sue Moffitt (7M) • Corporate Social Responsibility, Auditing, Ethics and Financial Accounting
Thomas J. Phillips, Jr. (M) • Behavioral Accounting, Financial Accounting and Reporting
Kenneth J. Reichelt (M) • Financial Accounting, Empirical Auditing
Padmakumar Sivadasan (7M) • Corporate Governance, Empirical Auditing
Jared S. Soileau (7M) • Accounting Information Systems, Internal Auditing, Corporate Governance, Risk Management
Glenn E. Sumners (M) • Internal Auditing, Governance, Risk, Controls, Fraud, Analytics
Stephanie Walton (6A) • Taxation, Accounting Information Systems, Corporate Disclosures

Programs

• Accounting, MAcc

• Accounting, Ph.D.