New accounting program announced

Grand Valley State University's Seidman School of Business is offering a new graduate degree program designed for individuals preparing for careers in public, industrial, and non-profit accounting ? including students with limited undergraduate accounting courses.

The Master of Science in Accounting (MSA) degree is designed for students pursuing CPA certification. It meets the educational requirements to sit for the CPA exam recently adopted by the Michigan State Board of Accountancy.

'The requirements to become licensed to be a CPA have changed. The state of Michigan now requires 150 credit hours in order to sit for the exam. Students, therefore, will want to take a fifth year to get 150 hours,' said Steve Goldberg, chair of the accounting department. 'Having those students earn a master's degree, we thought, was a desirable solution.'

The MSA program consists of 33 semester hours of graduate studies, with at least 15 semester hours in accounting. The remaining credits can be other graduate accounting or other graduate business courses. It accommodates student interests and ambitions through a wide selection of electives and can be completed with part-time or full-time study.

Classes are available in the evening for students who choose to pursue the MSA degree with part-time study. Courses are also offered during the afternoon, and the degree requirements can be completed in as short a time as eight months or during two consecutive summers.

While the CPA rule change was 'the single primary motivating factor ' for the program's creation, Goldberg said it's flexible enough for students wanting to advance their careers in other fields of accounting.

For more information, call the Graduate Business Office at (616) 331-7400 or visit www.go2gvmsa.edu.