Master of Accountancy 

Enrollment in the MAcc program is competitive with a faculty review process determining admission. The minimum admission requirements are:

• Admission to the Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School.
• Admission requirements for graduates from the E. J. Ourso College of Business with the required prerequisite accounting courses (see below) are a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 and a minimum GPA of 3.0 in the applicant’s accounting courses. If the overall GPA is below 3.0, an applicant’s GPA in their last 60 hours of coursework must be at least 3.0. The Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) is no longer required for an applicant from LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business’s undergraduate programs.
• The GMAT is waived for applicants from AACSB accredited schools who have an undergraduate accounting degree (or a business degree with the prerequisite courses) and have an overall GPA of 3.5 with a 3.2 GPA in their accounting courses.
  All other applicants from AACSB accredited schools must have a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 (or a minimum GPA of 3.0 in their last 60 hours of coursework), a minimum GPA of 3.0 in their accounting courses, and a minimum GMAT score of 500.
• The completion of an undergraduate degree in accounting, or the equivalent, at a four-year accredited institution.
• Each applicant should either have an undergraduate degree in accounting (or the equivalent), or an undergraduate degree other than accounting, but have completed the following (or equivalent to the following) pre-requisite courses:
  • Accounting 3001 - Intermediate Accounting Part 1  (has pre-requisites)
  • 3021 - Intermediate Accounting Part 2 *
  • Accounting 3221 - Income Tax Accounting *
  • Accounting 3121 - Cost Analysis and Control *
  • Accounting 3122 - Accounting Information Systems *
  • Accounting 3222 - Auditing **

* Intermediate Accounting Part 1 is a pre-requisite for these courses
** Accounting Information Systems is a pre-requisite for this course

Application
Application to the MAcc program begins with an application to the Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School. You may apply online or contact the Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School at 225-578-2311 for more information. The Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School will forward your completed application to the Department of Accounting for admission consideration. The Department of Accounting does not require a writing sample or a statement of purpose.

Deadline 
The deadline for submitting an application for consideration into the MAcc program is October 15 for Spring entry and March 15 for Summer and Fall entry. The application must be complete, including the GMAT score and all letters of recommendation, to be considered. No applications will be evaluated before these dates. After these dates, applications may be considered on a rolling basis.

Letters of Recommendation 
Three letters of recommendation are required from applicants who are not undergraduate accounting majors at LSU. Letters of recommendation do not have to be on any particular form and may be submitted online at the Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School or sent directly to the MAcc Program Advisor. Applicants who are undergraduate accounting majors at LSU may submit letters of recommendation if they wish. 

A limited number of graduate assistantships are available for full-time students, which require 10 hours of work per week. If you wish to be considered for an assistantship, you may complete and return the application that will be included with your notification of acceptance into the MAcc program.

The LSU BS in Accounting program meets the Louisiana educational requirements to take the CPA exam.  To apply for a Louisiana CPA license, students must also complete an additional 30 hours beyond the accounting BS program.  Many students choose to earn the additional 30 hours by enrolling in LSU’s Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program.  The State Board of CPAs of Louisiana will evaluate each applicant in its entirety to make a final decision regarding licensure.  Additional non-educational requirements such as work experience and character references may apply.  For more information, visit the Louisiana State Board website.

The LSU Department of Accounting offers the accounting research and ethics courses that are required by the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy.  Students completing both BS and MAcc degrees can meet the educational requirements to take the CPA exam as a Texas candidate as long as the required accounting research and ethics courses are taken as part of the coursework. The Texas State Board of Public Accountancy will evaluate each applicant in its entirety to make a final decision regarding licensure.  Additional non-educational requirements such as work experience, fingerprinting, and character references may apply.  For more information, visit the Texas state board website.

Students who are interested in being licensed as a CPA in any other state besides Louisiana or Texas should contact the respective state board before enrolling in LSU’s accounting program.  LSU has not determined whether this program meets the educational requirements for licensure in other states.

Please contact accounting@lsu.edu for more information.