7.4.5 MASTER OF ACCOUNTANCY (MMA) DEGREE

Admission requirements. Before admission to the program, students should have completed the following accounting courses or their equivalents:

AC 310 Financial Reporting and Analysis of Business Activities I
AC 311 Financial Reporting and Analysis of Business Activities II
AC 361 Cost Analysis for Planning and Control
AC 371 Introduction to Taxation
AC 389 Accounting Information Systems Development, Operation and Control
AC 432 Introduction to Corporate Governance, Risk Assessment, and Assurance Services

Additional information is in the Admission Criteria section of this catalog.

Degree requirements. The master of accountancy degree program is a fifth-year professional program. The objective of the program is to provide students with greater breadth and depth of understanding in accounting and business than is possible in an undergraduate program. The program prepares students for careers as professional accountants in financial institutions, government, industry, nonprofit organizations, and public practice. Graduates are prepared to research various databases related to troublesome accounting problems, and to exercise judgment in making accounting-related decisions by drawing on their integrated, comprehensive body of accounting and business knowledge. Students are required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of approved coursework beyond the undergraduate degree. A minimum of 24 hours must be taken in courses open only to graduate students.

The following courses are required for the MMA degree. A minimum of 21 hours of accounting courses (required and elective) must be completed. Electives in areas other than accounting are chosen in consultation with the student's advisor and vary based on students' backgrounds and interests. The School of Accountancy will not accept more than six hours of transfer graduate credit from master students.

Course requirements for MMA program. Students must take a minimum of 30 hours of graduate courses, including a minimum of 21 hours of accounting courses. Electives must be approved by the coordinator of the MMA program.

Required Accounting courses* (21 semester hours)
AC 512 Advanced Financial Reporting and Analysis
AC 523 Business Valuation and Performance Measurement
AC 532 Advanced Governance, Risk Assessment, and Assurance
AC 534 Fraud and Ethics Risk Management
AC 554 Professional Certification
AC 561 Accounting for Business Management

AC 589 Systems Analysis and Control

       *Students cannot receive graduate credit for a course if they have taken an equivalent course at the undergraduate level. Another accounting course should be substituted with the approval of the coordinator of the MMA program. Students who have not taken AC 456 and AC 471 or their equivalents must take AC 456 or AC 556 and AC 471 or AC 571. 

MMA students may take one of the following tax courses:
AC 571 Taxation of Business Organizations
AC 593 Research and Communication in Taxation
Other required course (3 semester hours)
LGS 504 Legal Issues in Accounting
Electives (up to 6 semester hours)

Master of Tax Accounting (MTA) degree. The master of tax accounting (MTA) degree program is a multidimensional approach to the education of the modern tax specialist. The program develops an understanding of the taxation system and the interrelationships that exist between that system and accounting theory; a basic knowledge of the legal system as it relates to taxation; and the basic tools necessary for research and communication in taxation. Graduates are prepared to research various tax, legal, and accounting databases related to troublesome tax problems and to exercise judgment in making tax-related decisions by drawing on their integrated, comprehensive knowledge of accounting and taxation.

Admission requirements. Before final admission to the program, students should have completed the following courses or their equivalents:

AC 310 Financial Reporting and Analysis of Business Activities I
AC 311 Financial Reporting and Analysis of Business Activities II
AC 361 Cost Analysis for Planning and Controlling
AC 371 Introduction to Taxation
AC 389 Accounting Information Systems Development, Operation and Control
AC 432 Introduction to Corporate Governance, Risk Assessment, and Assurance Services
AC 471 Taxation of Business Transactions and Organizations

Degree requirements. Students are required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of approved coursework beyond the undergraduate degree. At least 18 of these hours must be in coursework in the major field. A minimum of 24 hours must be taken in courses open only to graduate students, and 15 of these must be in courses in accounting and taxation at The University of Alabama. Students who will sit for the CPA exam in Alabama are required to take AC 456 Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting as part of their undergraduate or graduate program. To receive the master of tax accounting degree, the student must complete the required core courses with an average grade of "B" or better, and must maintain an average grade of "B" or better in all required accounting courses. The following core courses are required for the MTA degree:

Admission to the Graduate School does not imply admission of a student to candidacy for a degree. Admission to candidacy is contingent upon the recommendation of the student's department and the approval of the graduate dean.

The application for Admission to Candidacy for the Master's Degree should be filed after 12 semester hours of graduate credit have been earned at The University of Alabama. It must be approved by the time of registration for the semester in which requirements for the degree are completed.

Additional details on Admission to Candidacy and all other degree requirements is in the Degree Requirements section of this catalog.

New Scholarships

BDO Seidman Accounting Scholarship. Awarded annually to an accounting major. Contact: Director, Culverhouse School of Accountancy, Box 870220, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.

Cook, J. Woodie and Ivy Sanders Endowed Scholarship. First priority, full time accounting majors who are graduates of high schools in Choctaw Co., Alabama; 2nd priority to full-time accounting majors from small towns and non-metro areas in Alabama. Contact: Director, Culverhouse School of Accountancy, Box 870220, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.

Diamond, Sam, Jr. Endowed Scholarship in Tax Accounting. Awarded annually to a Master of Tax Accounting student. Contact: Director, Culverhouse School of Accountancy, Box 870220, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.

Fowler, Anna Catherine Cook Endowed Scholarship. Accounting major; First priority to first generation college students; 2nd priority to full-time student in C&BA with major other an accounting; preference to Choctaw, Sumter Co., AL or Lauderdale Co., MS. Contact: Director, Culverhouse School of Accountancy, Box 870220, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.

Horton, Charles/Jamison Money Farmer & Company Scholarship in Accounting. Awarded annually to an accounting major. Contact: Director, Culverhouse School of Accountancy, Box 870220, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.

Jones, Sally R. and Laurens W. Endowed Scholarship. Awarded annually to an accounting major. Contact: Director, Culverhouse School of Accountancy, Box 870220, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.
 

THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA GRADUATE CATALOG

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