Curriculum

MACC Program Requirements for Students with an Undergraduate Accountancy Degree

The MACC degree is a STEM certified 30 semester hours program for those with an undergraduate accountancy degree. Additional prerequisite requirements for those without an undergraduate accounting degree are detailed at the end of this section.

MACC students must select one of two specialization tracks offered within the program as specified below. 

Track A - Business Reporting and Analysis

This track requires students to select two courses out of three specified courses (6 semester hours) as shown below, and the remaining 24 semester hours in the 30 semester hours program, are electives. This track is for students that are planning for accounting careers in auditing, corporate accounting and finance, or not-for-profit accounting. Only MACC prefixed courses may be taken as an elective. The specific program requirements are shown below. 

Track B - Business Analytics in Accounting

This track requires a student to complete seven required courses in business and accounting analytics (18 semester units) as shown below, and the remaining 12 semester hours in the 30 semester hours program, as electives. This track is for students that are planning for accounting careers that required in-depth knowledge in business and accounting analytics along with knowledge needed for auditing, corporate accounting and finance, or not-for-profit accounting careers. 

As Track B students must take courses from the Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program, there are additional requirements to be admitted to this MACC track. Specifically, applicants must have taken ACCT 303 (Accounting Information Systems) and ECON 216 (Statistics for Business and Economics) or equivalent with grades of B or better, have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, and must participate in an interview with MSBA admissions. Further, students in the Combined BACC/MACC program who select this track cannot enroll in any MSBA prefixed course until after they have completed their BACC degree and are fully considered graduate students. Therefore, combined degree students should expect to complete all the required MSBA prefixed courses in the Fall semester after they have completed the BACC degree.  

The specific program requirements are shown below. 

For current USD undergraduate students in the Combined BACC/MACC program there is opportunity for double counting some specified courses toward both degrees. The course numbers for specified double counting courses may be different than those shown in the tables above for the two tracks. See the discussion of the Combined Program below. 

Elective Courses

Students must complete a “program plan” indicating their elective selections prior to beginning the MACC program. However, course substitutions may be made at later points of time upon approval of the Academic Director.

All MACC courses will be offered only once per calendar year. Therefore, students should review the class schedule of MACC course offerings prior to the completion of their program plan. Students should also examine course prerequisites before selecting their electives and preparing their program plan. The Academic Director should be consulted during this process.

A maximum of 6 semester hours of experiential learning courses are allowed. Therefore, students are limited to two of the following three courses: MACC 580 International Accounting Experience, MACC 585 Accounting and Public Policy, and MACC 594 ESG Accounting.

A maximum of 6 semester hours of non-MACC prefixed graduate business courses from the Knauss School of Business are allowed (assuming prerequisites are met) as part of the MACC program electives. Provide a syllabus for each course for review and evaluation. The remaining electives must be from MACC prefixed courses. Students must justify the relevance of the course and must gain the approval of the Academic Director to include the graduate course as a MACC elective.

Students in the MBA program may select individual MACC courses for their elective courses. Students must meet the appropriate prerequisites noted for the individual MACC courses prior to enrollment and must gain approval of their MBA program advisor and Academic Director of the Graduate Accountancy Programs.

Requirements for Students with a Non-Accounting Undergraduate Degree

Students with a non-accounting undergraduate degree may apply for the MACC program, but will be required to complete prerequisite accounting coursework.

The MACC program would consist of a maximum of 51 semester hours. Specifically, the 21 accounting semester hours requirements would need to be completed as prerequisites to completing the 30 semester hours MACC program described above. Students having already completed some of the undergraduate requirements will have the courses and the units considered for waiver.

To meet the equivalency requirement the student must have the following courses:

Admission Process for the MACC Program

Students must complete the following for admission to the MACC degree program:

1. Complete the Master of Science in Accountancy online application, including the $125 application fee.

2. Resume

3. Personal statement

4. Two professional letters of recommendation

5. College/University Transcripts. Transcript evaluation required for international applicants. 

6. TOEFL score of 92 or IELTS score of 7 for international applicants

7. Overall GPA of 3.0 and accounting GPA of 3.0

MACC Program Articulation Agreement

The Master of Science in Accounting (MACC Track A or Track B) values the work that USD students complete at the graduate level in the Master of Science in Taxation (MTAX) accounting program. The MACC program will waive up to six (6) units of MACC requirements, based upon successful completion of MTAX graduate coursework as follows: Two MACC classes (numbered MACC 501 through MACC 599) completed in the MTAX program will waive two MACC classes (numbered MACC 501 through MACC 599) in the MACC program (6 units). Graduate students must apply to, be accepted by, and confirm their enrollment in the MACC program before they complete their MTAX degree to have classes double count. Grades of B or better are required to waive MACC courses. Students must fulfill all other requirements for the MACC degree. Students participating in the BACC/MACC or BACC/MTAX Combined Programs are not eligible for the articulation agreement.