Head and Director of Graduate Studies: Andrew D. Bailey, Jr.
Correspondence and Information: Head, Department of Accountancy,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 360
Commerce West Building
, 1206
South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61820;
(217) 333-0857
GRADUATE FACULTY
Professors: A. D. Bailey, P. J. Beck, C. E. Brown, J. R. Dietrich, Y.
Kwon, F. L. Neumann, H. M. Schoenfeld, I. Solomon, E. Willis, V. K. Zimmerman
Associate Professors: M. H. Berry, J. S. Chandler, J. Davis, D. Kleinmuntz, K. H. Molloy, P. A. Silhan, D. Ziebart, R. E. Ziegler
Assistant Professors: N. Desmond, C. Finger, J. Rosett, T. Sougiannis, D. Stone
GRADUATE PROGRAMS
The Department of Accountancy offers graduate work leading to the degrees of
master of accounting science (M.A.S.), master of arts, and doctor of philosophy
in accountancy. For graduates of business schools with credit in appropriate
undergraduate courses, the M.A.S. degree requirements can be completed in one
year. For nonbusiness graduates, the M.A.S. degree can be earned in two years.
The Ph.D. degree takes approximately three to four years of full-time study and
research.
ADMISSION
All applicants, native or international, are required to take the Graduate
Management Admission Test. This test should be taken early enough to ensure
that the results will be available to the department before action on
admission. The admission requirements of the Graduate College also apply. In
addition, all international applicants must take the Test of English as a
Foreign Language and the Test of Spoken English.
MASTER OF ACCOUNTING SCIENCE
The master of accounting science degree offers a two-year program for students
with little or no background in accounting or as little as one year's study for
students who wish to expand on an undergraduate degree in accountancy or
another business field. All candidates are required to complete at least 8
units of course work. At least 5 units must be at the 400 level; 4 units must
be in accounting, and of these 4 units, 3 are specified and 1 is elective. The
remaining 4 units are general electives available for meeting the individual
student's plans. For example, the student may use some or all of them to
develop an area of specialization such as auditing, taxation, information
systems, financial accounting, managerial accounting, not-for-profit
accounting, or international accounting. A student's program is individually
developed in consultation with a faculty adviser. No thesis is required,
although students may elect to write one.
To be eligible to complete the M.A.S. program in 8 units, students should have completed an equivalent of the undergraduate curriculum in accountancy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, including the following: at least 21 hours of undergraduate work in accounting; a course in general economic theory, in intermediate microeconomics, in computer programming and applications, and in each of the functional fields of business; two courses in statistics; and courses including finite mathematics, linear algebra, and calculus.
Students with little or no business and accounting background are required to complete as many as 8 additional units of work. In the first year of this two-year program, students take four specified graduate courses in accountancy. Depending upon their background, students also enroll in courses in statistics, economics, mathematics, computer programming, and the functional areas of business. Students who already meet any of the requirements of the two-year program receive some credit toward the total 16-unit requirement. In the second year, the requirements are those for all M.A.S. students, as described above.
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ACCOUNTANCY WITH SPECIALIZATION IN TAXATION
The department also offers a separate master's degree in taxation. Students who
have been admitted into the M.A.S. program may transfer into the M.S.
(Taxation) program. The program combines required courses in taxation with
electives, both within and outside the department. The total program consists
of 8 units of course work, of which at least 4 units must be in taxation.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Applications for admission to the doctoral program, supported by three letters
of recommendation, must be approved by the department admissions committee,
which may require an oral or a written examination. For students with a
bachelor's degree and adequate background in appropriate areas, the
requirements for the doctor of philosophy degree include the following: credit
in micro- and macroeconomics; two courses in behavioral science or financial
economics; two courses in statistics; five minor area and research technique
courses (four of which must be nonaccounting courses); four accounting courses;
and the thesis. The student's doctoral program is determined in consultation
with a faculty advisory committee. The student's tentative plans for the
doctoral thesis serve as a guide in planning the program.
In addition, candidates must pass written and oral preliminary examinations and an oral final examination on the doctoral thesis. In the preliminary examinations, candidates must demonstrate a thorough knowledge of research methods and accounting theory in both its external and internal dimensions; a general acquaintance with the subject matter and bibliography of other areas of accountancy; and proficiency in the required areas of economic theory, quantitative methods, and behavioral science or financial economics. Although teaching is not a general Graduate College requirement, experience in teaching is considered an important part of the accountancy graduate program.
The Office of Accounting Research (OAR) was established in 1983 as the research arm of the Department of Accountancy. The mission of OAR is divided into three distinct parts: (1) identify seminal programs that would benefit from attention; the ultimate goal is to generate ideas and concepts that impinge on the development of the accounting discipline; (2) support major research by providing guidance and resources; (3) disseminate research findings to both the academic and professional communities (i.e., practitioners, corporate executives, educators, and regulators).
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