The Accounting concentration is designed for students who wish to meet the educational requirements for examination toward professional certification as a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas. If a student does not have an undergraduate Accounting degree, then other courses outside the MBA program must be completed before completing some of the upper-level courses in the concentration. The program teaches a diverse array of skills, aptitudes and technologies. Students have opportunities to develop strong problem-solving abilities, excellent oral and written communication skills, and technical know-how. The objective of this concentration is to prepare students for the Certified Public Accountant exam and the Certified Managerial Accountant exam as well as a career in various areas of accounting.

The MBA program consists of 15–19 semester hours of foundation courses in Phase I and 39 semester hours in Phases II–IV (depending upon the concentration). After reviewing the student’s transcripts at the time of admission, the MBA advisor determines the number of foundation courses a student must take.

Phase I: 15–19 Semester Hours (or Course-Equivalent Undergraduate Work)

Foundation courses give students the necessary background to begin Phase II of the program. Students must complete or be waived from the appropriate foundation courses before enrolling in Phase III course work, in accordance with the designated prerequisites for 6000-level courses. Once students enroll in the MBA program, they may not take undergraduate courses or CLEP or DSST exams to meet the Phase I degree plan requirements.

The Phase I requirements of the MBA program can be satisfied through provision of evidence of equivalent undergraduate course credit earned with a grade of C or higher, according to the following guidelines: (1) provision of evidence of three semester hours of credit for the equivalent course at the graduate level or (2) the passing of a CLEP or DSST exam in lieu of one or more undergraduate courses (see the Counseling and Consultation Center web page, www.stedwards.edu/clep/equivalents.htm, or contact your advisor for more information about CLEP and DSST exams).

• ACCT 5301 Accounting Principles and Management (or six semester hours of accounting)
• BUSI 5304 Quantitative Methods for Managers (or three semester hours of statistics)
• ECON 5301 Economic Principles and Concepts (or two semester hours of microeconomics and two semester hours of macroeconomics)
• FINC 5301 Financial Concepts and Policies (or three semester hours of upper-division managerial finance or investments)
• MKTG 5301 Marketing Principles and Concepts (or three semester hours of marketing principles)
• ISMG 5100 Introduction to Management Information Systems (or an undergraduate degree in CIS, MIS or CS, or two semester hours of an introduction to enterprise computing, or successful completion of the waiver exam)
• ISMG 5301 Introduction to Computer Programming (or an undergraduate degree in CIS, MIS or CS or three semester hours of a modern structured and object-programming language such as Java, C++, Smalltalk or Visual Basic)

Phase II: 21–24 Semester Hours

Phase II of the MBA program includes the seven to eight required core courses for each area of concentration. These courses give the student the necessary knowledge base to address the more complex problems and theoretical constructs of the next phases of the program.

• ACCT 6306 Accounting Systems
• ACCT 6310 Advanced Accounting Problems
• BUSI 6303 Business Law and Ethics
• BUSI 6312 Managerial Communications
• FINC 6301 Financial Management
• MGMT 6305 Organizational and Operations Management
• MGMT 6306 Human Relations
• MKTG 6301 Marketing Management

Phase III: 12–15 Semester Hours

Phase III courses lead students to synthesize knowledge and to build their understanding of complex organizational systems that are necessary for sound decision making. Students combine required and elective courses in Phase III to broaden problem-solving skills and deepen knowledge in selected concentrations.

• ACCT 6312 Accounting Ethics
• 3 ACCOUNTING ELECTIVES

Phase IV: 3 Semester Hours

Phase IV is the Capstone or seminar course that leads students to integrate their knowledge, skills and experience in a strategic management project. Working in teams, students complete a hands-on project that requires investigation and formulation of business strategies that determine the character, direction and success of private, nonprofit or public organizations.

• BUSI 6302 Business and Public Policy