The Best MBA Programs In Accounting

The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan

7) University of Michigan (Ross School of Business): According to Reuven Lehavy, Ross’ accounting area chair, the program’s success stems from its cross-curricular nature. “We purposely integrate the content across our courses, both vertically and also by covering similar settings in different courses so students can see them from different perspectives and have a chance to see how those perspectives tie together,” he wrote to Poets&Quants. Like McCombs, Ross MBAs also benefit from sharing space with a top Master’s of Accounting program, giving them greater options and flexibility. As a research-driven program, Ross can feed its findings on best practices and innovative approaches back into classes like Financial Statement Analysis. Even more, such research has enabled Ross to produce new courses like Financial Communication and Investor Relations.

NYU Stern

8) New York University (Stern School of Business): According to Tim Baldenius, the school’s accounting department chair, the program benefits from its breadth of content and its proximity to industry practitioners. “NYU Stern’s Department of Accounting offers a wide range of courses and programs for students to acquire the skills that will prepare them for successful careers in public accounting, financial services, general management, consulting, etc,” he wrote to Poets&Quants. “Stern’s accounting curriculum draws on world-class faculty who are research-active and highly effective instructors. The proximity to Wall Street, and easy access to top-notch practitioners, offers students unique internship and recruiting opportunities as well as close-up insights into the inner workings of capital markets and financial institutions.” Stern also runs the Ross Institute, which supports research in accounting, auditing, and financial reporting to capital markets, along with connecting students with accounting practitioners n business, government and academia.

USC’s Marshall School of Business

9) University of Southern California (Marshall School of Business): Call it synergy. Like Ross, Marshall MBAs reap the benefits from the highly-regarded Master’s of Accounting and Master’s of Business Taxation programs at USC’s Leventhal School of Accounting. In addition, USC maintains one of the top-rated undergraduate accounting programs, further increasing the faculty and elective offerings available to MBA students.

Indiana University Kelley School of Business

10) Indiana University (Kelley School of Business): Looking for a truly experiential graduate accounting program? Try Kelley, where truly hands-on collaborations with outside organizations comprise 20% of the credit hours. For example, student teams complete in semester-long consulting projects with local companies and not-for-profits. The program is also global in nature, where students spent seven weeks on assignment outside the United States. Philosophically, students not only master bottom line financial tools and fundamentals, but apply them in case-based scenarios (sometimes written and administered by alumni). Here, students simulate the real world of accounting professionals, making decisions based on incomplete data, unclear objectives, time restrictions, risk and uncertainty, and conflicts between various functions and stakeholders.

North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School is ranked 18th among the best business schools in the U.S. by Poets&Quants.

10) University of North Carolina (Kenan Flagler Business School): How committed is Kenan-Flagler to accounting? The school’s dean, Doug Shackelford, is a former accounting professor and recognized tax scholar. The MBA accounting program boasts several award-winning teachers and researchers. And its curriculum covers all aspects of the field, including financial statements and reporting, taxation, valuation, and deal structuring. Like MBAs at other public programs, Kenan-Flagler students enjoy resources from the school highly-regarded Master’s of Accounting programs, which will be going online this summer.