MSBA/MSA Dual Degree

MSBA/MSA Dual Degree

  

The fields of business analytics and accounting have increasingly overlapped over the last several years, and many employers are demanding applicants with both skill sets. The Dual MSBA/MSA degree will train students in the necessary business analytics and accounting skills to advance their careers with potentially only one additional semester of coursework.

In general, the Dual MSBA/MSA degree can be completed in three semesters. If additional prerequisites for either program are required, the program may take four to five semesters to complete.


Admissions

Candidates must apply separately to and be admitted to both MSBA and MSA programs. 

The student must meet the prerequisite requirements for both degrees.


Degree Requirements

MSBA degree requirements:    33 units of coursework

MSA degree requirements:       30 units of coursework

University policy on dual degrees stipulates that a maximum of 50% of the credit hours for the shorter program may be counted toward both degrees (in this case, 15 units of course work). Therefore, the Dual MSBA/MSA degree requires a total of 48 units.

To receive the dual degree, the following are required:

For the MSBA degree (33 units total):

  • 15 units of core Business Analytics courses
  • 12 units of Business Analytics coursework that count toward both degrees
  • 3 units of Business Analytics courses
  • 3 units of specific core Accounting courses that count toward both degrees

For the MSA degree (30 units total):

  • 15 units of Accounting courses
  • 3 units of specific core Accounting courses that count toward both degrees
  • 12 units of Business Analytics courses that count toward both degrees*

*The MSA degree allows up to 12 units of non-accounting business electives


Coursework

MSA Coursework

Prerequisites

The following are considered prerequisite courses for the MSA program.  Some of these courses can be completed during the program but are not counted towards the units needed to complete the dual MSBA/MSA degree. 

Accounting Prerequisite Courses Units Main Campus Offering Prerequisites
ACCT 599: Introduction to Financial/Managerial Acct. 3 Self Study - Fall, Spring & Summer None
ACCT 310: Cost Accounting 3 Fall & Summer ACCT 599
ACCT 500A: Intermediate Financial Accounting I 3 Fall, Spring & Summer ACCT 599
ACCT 500B: Intermediate Financial Accounting II 3 Fall, Spring & Summer ACCT 500A
ACCT 520: Principles of Federal Taxation 3 Fall, Spring & Summer ACCT 599 concurrent

Core Accounting Courses

Students must take 18 units of Accounting courses from the following list.  Courses that are bolded and marked with a * are eligible to be counted towards both the MSA and MSBA degrees; however, only 3 units of total Accounting coursework can be counted towards both degrees.

Core Accounting Courses Units Main Campus Offering Prerequisites
ACCT 501: Advanced Accounting 3 Fall & Spring ACCT 500B
ACCT 515: Ethics for Professional Accounting 3 Spring ACCT 200/210 concurrent or ACCT 599 concurrent
ACCT 521: Business Law for Accountants 3 Fall & Spring None
ACCT 522: Advanced Federal Taxation 3 Fall ACCT 520
ACCT 530: Forensic & Investigative Accounting* 3 Fall ACCT 531
ACCT 531: Principles of Auditing* 3 Fall ACCT 500A concurrent
ACCT 532: Audit Simulation 3 Spring ACCT 531
ACCT 551: Accounting Analysis of Financial Statements* 3 Fall ACCT 500B concurrent
ACCT 561: Accounting Information Systems* 3 Fall & Spring ACCT 500B concurrent
ACCT 562A: Technology for Accountants (Excel) 1 Fall & Spring ACCT 200 concurrent or ACCT 599 concurrent
ACCT 562B: Technology for Accountants (QuickBooks) 1 Fall & Spring ACCT 200 or ACCT 599
ACCT 562D: Accounting Data Analytics 1 Fall & Spring ACCT 200 or ACCT 599
ACCT 572A: Accounting for Not-for-Profit Entities 3 Fall ACCT 500B
ACCT 580: Communication for Accountants* ^ 3 Fall & Spring ACCT 500B concurrent and internal controls knowledge preferred
Other newly created ACCT courses as approved. 3    

^ MSBA/MSA dual degree students are required to take either ACCT 580 Communications for Accountants or MIS 509 Business Communications as part of their program.  They may not both be taken as the content of the courses is similar.

Business Analytics Elective Courses

In order to complete the requirements of the MSA degree, students must take 12 units of Business Analytics courses that count as elective units for the MSA degree.  See the MSBA Coursework section below for more detail on these courses.

For additional information about the MSA degree, visit the Master of Science in Accounting website

MSBA Coursework

Core Business Analytics Courses

Students must take 27 units of core Business Analytics courses as indicated below.  Courses that are bolded and marked with a * are eligible to be counted towards both the MSA and MSBA degrees; however, only 12 units total of Business Analytics coursework can be counted towards both degrees.

Core Business Analytics Courses Units Main Campus Offering
MIS 578 Programming and SQL/RBD 1 Summer
BNAD 555: Introduction to Business Analytics 2 Summer
MKT 522: Introduction to Statistics 2 Fall
MIS 555A: Regression Model for Analytics 2 Fall
MIS 561: Data Visualization* 3 Fall
MIS 586 Big Data Analytics* 3 Fall
MIS 509: Business Communications* ^ 3 Fall
MKT 555B: Experimentation and Data Analysis 2 Spring
MIS 545 Data Mining and Business Intelligence* 3 Spring
MIS 587: Business Intelligence* 3 Spring
BNAD 597A: Eller Business Consulting 3 Spring

^ MSBA/MSA dual degree students are required to take either ACCT 580 Communications for Accountants or MIS 509 Business Communications as part of their program.  They may not both be taken as the content of the courses is similar.

Elective Courses

In addition to the 27 Core Business Analytics Courses indicated above, MSBA students must take: 

  • 3 units of specific core Accounting coursework that counts towards both degrees, as previously indicated under the Core Accounting Courses section
  • 3 units of Business Analytics elective coursework from preapproved list (however, MIS 514 Information Technology Audit would be suggested)

Sample Plan of Study

View sample plans of study, including a sample plan that assumes the student has no background in accounting and will need to take all prerequisites to complete the MSA.