The Department of Accountancy programs continue to be ranked among the elite in the nation by Public Accounting Report (where both our graduate and undergraduate programs are ranked in the top 20).
The Master of Accounting Science at Northern Illinois University is designed for individuals preparing for accounting careers in public accounting, industry, government, and nonprofit organizations, and for teaching accounting.
The objective of the M.A.S. program is to provide its graduates with the professional skills, knowledge, and competencies necessary to be a successful professional accountant in today's complex business environment.
The M.A.S. program is not simply an additional 30 semester hours of accountacy course work. Rather, the program provides individuals with foundational accountancy knowledge that is not covered in the undergraduate program, and with essential business knowledge from the strategy, information technology, and financial management areas. Additionally, the program includes a research skills course and a capstone course in which accountancy and business knowledge is integrated and applied to business decision-making scenarios.
The program focuses on broad-based accounting knowledge; knowledge in other business disciplines that complements a professional accounting career; the ability to integrate this knowledge to make business decisions; the development of research, communication, technology and team-building skills; and an understanding of ethical issues and expectations for professional conduct.
We believe the M.A.S. program complements both an undergraduate Accountancy degree and the strong non-accounting major. Either way, the program is an excellent way to meet the 150-hour requirement to sit for the C.P.A. exam.
Rowene Linden is the M.A.S. Graduate Program Advisor and can be reached via email at rlinden@niu.edu or at 1(815) 753-6200.