Carroll School of Management
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MSA Curriculum

degree requirements

All students must complete a minimum of ten courses (30 credit hours) for the MSA degree. Students must take a total of at least six accounting classes which include the four core MSA classes.

Upon admission into the MSA Program, each student is provided with a personalized MSA course worksheet. This worksheet, determined by faculty review of the student's academic transcript, outlines the specific courses the student is required to take fulfill their MSA degree requirements. 

The Carroll School is committed to instilling a strong sense of community service in its students. In an effort to align this commitment with the program, all MSA students must fulfill a requirement of 10 hours of service to others through meaningful work as volunteers.

Core Courses

The four required core courses use richly detailed business contexts. These enable students to leverage their technical expertise and produce insights into how information can be generated, used and communicated. The core courses are:

  1. Financial Statement Analysis (MA824)
  2. Assurance and Consulting Services (MA825)
  3. Taxes and Management Decisions (MA826)
  4. Strategic Cost and Profitability Analysis (MA827)

Curriculum for Undergraduate Accounting Majors

In addition to the four core courses, students must take six electives (18 credits), 6-credits of which must be in accounting. The non-accounting electives can be fulfilled from the majority of Boston College's graduate course offerings and may include courses in subjects such as business law and finance. Electives taken within the Carroll School of Management must be at the 600 or 800 level.

Curriculum for Undergraduate Non-Accounting Majors

Non-Accounting:

  1. Economics/Micro-Economics
  2. Financial Management
  3. Statistics
  4. Business Law (US Based)
Accounting:

  1. Intermediate Accounting I (or the equivalent thereof)
  2. Intermediate Accounting II (or the equivalent thereof)
  3. Cost Accounting (or the equivalent thereof)
  4. Financial Auditing (US Based)
  5. Federal Taxation (US Based)
  6. Accounting Information Systems (or the equivalent thereof)


NOTE: If you are interested in taking the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam, required courses vary by state. For specific CPA requirements by state, please visit the "Exams" section of the NASBA website.