The MSAA provides students with high-level skills in auditing, says program director Cindy Durtschi.The Master of Accountancy degree offered by the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business was recently renamed the Master of Science in Audit and Advisory Services (MSAA). The new name helps to distinguish the
nationally ranked program at DePaul University in the marketplace.
"DePaul’s MSAA is a one-of-a-kind master's degree and its new name reflects that," says Ray Whittington, dean of the Driehaus College of Business and incoming director of the School of Accountancy & MIS. "The comprehensive curriculum focuses on advanced training in data analytics, internal audit and forensic accounting techniques, which goes beyond preparing students for the CPA exam by providing skills highly desired by future employers."
DePaul’s three accountancy master’s programs cover the three main areas of the profession. DePaul’s Masters of Taxation (MST) provides advanced training in taxation. The newly named MSAA, which requires an undergraduate accounting degree, covers advanced training in audit and the functions accounting firms provide clients under their advisory, including data analytics and forensic accounting. The Master of Science in Accountancy degree, which is designed for students who do not have an undergraduate accounting degree, prepares students to enter the accountancy field. Each degree primes students for passing the CPA exam.
“Big accounting firms tell us that they are looking for students with specific skill sets on top of passing the CPA,” says Cindy Durtschi, professor and MSAA program director. “The new MSAA name signals to prospective students that the program is designed as an advanced accounting degree, which will prepare them with the skills necessary to function at a high level in the field of audit or with advisory services. The MSAA teaches the skills that firms have told us they want our students to have.”
The MSAA’s integrated curriculum focuses on areas that are in high demand throughout all sectors of the accounting profession—big data, internal audit, fraud and forensic accounting and information systems. Students gain advanced, practical skills for workplace application by learning in a case-based setting and working with audit systems used by accounting professionals.
“The MSAA gives DePaul a real opportunity to deliver to employers a set of students who have an advanced level of shared knowledge,” says Brian Maj, graduate program administrator. “The industry has changed and the MSAA will appeal to a specific student market, meet employer demand for new skills, and attract new talented faculty.”
Learn more about these DePaul graduate accountancy
and tax programs: