There is a surprising number of choices among accredited accounting degree programs in Ohio at the Master’s level. All of the schools listed below offer high quality graduate accounting programs and most are accredited by AACSB. Most of the programs described below accommodate traditional students, of course, but several focus on working adults and organize their programs around those individuals’ needs. Some of the schools below are small and some are quite large. All offer high quality graduate programs in accounting.

Baldwin Wallace University

School of Business

Founded in 1845 by Methodist settlers as Baldwin Institute, the original school merged with German Wallace College to gain its Baldwin Wallace name in 1913. Located in Berea, Ohio, the school remains a private, four-year liberal arts institution. It gained university status in 2012. The school always has had a reputation for excellence and continues that tradition. U.S. News and World Report ranks its hybrid MBA as the top online graduate level business program in the entire state, making it one of the most desirable accredited accounting degree programs in Ohio.

Master of Business Administration, Accounting Program

The Master in Business Administration in Accounting Program (AMBA) at Baldwin Wallace University is open to undergraduate students at Baldwin Wallace who seek to earn a joint BA/MBA degree as well as to those who already hold a bachelor degree and wish to enhance their knowledge, advance in an established career or gain the additional academic requirements necessary to sit for the CPA exam in Ohio. The university’s instructional staff members hold appropriate academic credentials but also have real world experience in accounting and are able to teach courses from a practitioner perspective. The program includes focused study in accounting and finance but also in ethics and practical matters of daily operation in a business environment.

Accreditation

  • The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International)
  • The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (NCA HLC)

Contact

Kamm Hall
191 East Center St.
Berea, OH 44017
Phone: (440) 826-2392
Email: info@bw.edu
Website: http://bw.edu/coursecatalog/degreerequire/mba_ac/

Bowling Green State University

College of Business

Bowling Green State University is a public, four year university located 22 miles south of Toledo. Founded in 1910, today the school has more than 17,000 students including nearly 3,000 graduate students. U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowling Green State University at number 181 among all national universities. Forbes and Washington Monthly also have ranked Bowling Green highly among national universities.

Master of Accountancy

The University states that the mission of its Master of Accountancy program is to enable students to continue to build on accounting and business knowledge gained at the bachelor level and to promote the professional and personal development of enrolled students. Program designers also strive to keep the program relevant to current and emerging issues to more effectively compete with counterparts at other schools. Students can complete the program in only 12 months and current undergraduate accounting students can earn both undergraduate and graduate degrees simultaneously. The program satisfies the credit hour requirement to sit for the CPA exam in Ohio and is one of the high quality accredited accounting degree programs in Ohio.

Master of Business Administration, Accounting Specialization

This is a full time program open to students with accounting backgrounds but also open to those who do not. The school is careful to note that this program is far different from its Master of Accountancy program that students enter with a high level of accounting knowledge. The MBA with a specialization in accounting focuses on preparing students with undergraduate degrees in areas other than accounting to enter the accounting profession. The number of credit hours required depends on each student’s academic background. Each student finishes the program with the total number of hours required to sit for the CPA exam in Ohio.

Accreditation

  • The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
  • The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (NCA HLC)

Contact
Graduate and Executive Programs in Business
371 Business Administration
Bowling Green, Ohio 43403
Phone: (419) 372-2488 and (800) 247-8622
Email: ksnead@bgsu.edu, mba@bgsu.edu
Websites:

Cleveland State University

Monte Ahuja College of Business

Cleveland State University came into being in 1964 when the state of Ohio assumed control of a Cleveland college and later added a separate college of law. Located in downtown Cleveland, Cleveland State University has a total student population of more than 17,000. U.S. News and World Report does not assign Cleveland State University a rank, but Forbes does. That publication places Cleveland State at number 161 in the Midwest, number 253 among all research universities and number 646 overall among all universities in the country.

Masters of Accountancy – Financial/Auditing Program

The Masters of Accountancy – Financial/Auditing (MAcc-F/A) program focuses on developing highly competent accountants knowledgeable in financial procedures, processes and concepts and who are prepared to enter the accounting profession upon completion of the program. The school admits students who hold undergraduate accounting degrees, but it also admits students whose undergraduate degrees are in other disciplines. Generally, about 60 percent of the new students admitted to the MAcc-F/A program were not accounting majors. Many of those were not even business majors. Such students do have to take extra courses to fill any gaps in their business knowledge, but all emerge from the program ready to enter the accounting profession and with the number of hours required to sit for the Ohio CPA exam. The school encourages all program graduates to pursue CPA designation.

Master of Business Administration, Accounting Program

This program at Cleveland State University is designed for students seeking more general knowledge of accounting or greater understanding of business theory and concepts for those students whose accounting backgrounds are strong. In either case, this 32-hour program satisfies the 150-hour requirement to qualify to sit for the CPA exam in Ohio. There are five approaches from which students can choose. The school offers a full time and part time MBA on campus that can have an online component. It offers an Executive MBA program designed to accommodate the schedules of working professionals. It offers an accelerated MBA, a mobile MBA and an off-campus MBA program that is fully online.

Accreditation

  • The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International)
  • The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (NCA HLC)

Contact

Masters of Accountancy – Financial/Auditing Program
Monte Ahuja Hall, Rm. 512 A
1860 East 18th Street
Cleveland, OH 44115-2214
Phone: (216) 687-4720
Email: accountingdept@csuohio.edu
Website: http://www.csuohio.edu/business/academics/act/financials.html

Master of Business Administration, Accounting Program
Graduate Business Advising Office
Monte Ahuja Hall, Room 327
1860 East 18th Street
Cleveland, OH 44115-2214
Phone: (216) 687-3730
Email: cbacsu@csuohio.edu
Website: http://www.csuohio.edu/business/mba/

DeVry University

Keller Graduate School of Business and Management

DeVry University has a strong national online presence but also maintains campuses across the county. Four of those campuses are in Ohio, in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton and Columbus. Students have the option of taking all of their courses on campus or accessing them online. Students also can choose a hybrid that combines the two course delivery methods. U.S. News and World Report ranks DeVry University as 93rd among all national universities.

Master of Science in Accounting (MSAC)

This is DeVry’s accelerated Accounting program for those who have a strong accounting background, such as those already working in the field and who hold bachelor degrees either in accounting or business with specialization in accounting or finance. DeVry also admits students who already hold a current CPA license or who have successfully completed all of the sections of the CPA exam. For others, this program satisfies the requirement in most states for additional academic study beyond the bachelor degree. As is the case with all Keller school graduate programs in accounting or finance, this course of student also includes the CPA Exam Review content provided by Becker Professional Education.

Master of Accounting and Financial Management (MAFM)

The Keller Graduate School of Business and Management at DeVry University includes the CPA Exam Review content included in the Becker Professional Education program. DeVry’s management reports that students prepared within the Becker program pass their states’ CPA exams at a rate that is twice that of students completing programs that do not include the CPA Exam Review portion of the Becker Professional Education program. Of course DeVry University’s administration wants to claim higher rates of attaining CPA designation, but incorporating Becker content carries another benefit as well. It enables students to prepare for the Ohio CPA exam in a formal setting as they also gain a Master’s degree to save both time and money. DeVry’s MAFM is taught from the practitioner perspective but also contains several general management courses. Students can choose to specialize in finance or pursue one of two formal certification designations, Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).

Related Resource: What is the Difference Between a CPA, CFA, and CFP?

MBA: Accounting Concentration

DeVry University’s MBA in Accounting retains the practitioner view of accounting but focuses on management and management theory more than it does on various accounting functions. This focus makes this program particularly attractive to those already working in accounting but who want to add to their management expertise as a means to advance in their careers. The program explores means of applying auditing, budgeting and tax planning within the business environment even as it provides a sound foundation in business and business theory. This program also incorporates the CPA Exam Review material authored by Becker Professional Education. The program provides opportunity to practice and build effective communication and presentation skills at the corporate level as it encourages business analysis training, collaboration and team building.

Accreditation

  • The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
  • The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (NCA HLC)

Contact

Cincinnati Campus
8800 Governors Hill Dr., Suite 100
Cincinnati, Ohio 45249
Phone: (513) 583-5000

Columbus Campus
1350 Alum Creek Dr.
Columbus, Ohio 43209
Phone: (614) 253-7291

Dayton Center
3610 Pentagon Blvd., Suite 100
Dayton, Ohio 45431
Phone: (937) 320-3200

Seven Hills (Cleveland South) Campus
4141 Rockside Road
Suite 110
Seven Hills, Ohio 44131
Phone: (216) 328-8754, (866) 453-3879 (toll free)

Websites:

Franklin University

Ross College of Business

Franklin University is a four year, private university, the third largest one in Ohio. Founded in 1902, Franklin University began and remains an alternative for higher education for working adults. Today, it is the largest such school in central Ohio. Located in Columbus, the main campus is convenient for many local students. The school maintains a total of 14 locations, however, three of which are in states other than Ohio.

M.S. in Accounting Online Degree

The M.S. in Accounting Online Degree at Franklin University is a 30-hour program that can be completed fully online. The school admits students throughout the year and all students complete a capstone course at the end of the program. Students can elect to stay with the general curriculum or to specialize in one of two tracks within the program. Those are the Financial Operations Program Track and the Accounting Taxation Track. Students can choose between these two tracks if the tracks meet individual students’ goals for the future.

Accreditation

  • The International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE)
  • The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA HLC)

Contact

Franklin University Main Campus
201 S. Grant Ave.
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Phone: (614) 797-4700
Email: graduate.admissions@franklin.edu
Website: http://www.franklin.edu/accounting-masters-degree-program

John Carroll University

Boler School of Business

John Carroll University is a high quality, private Jesuit Catholic institution located in University Heights, Ohio. Founded in 1886, it has a long history of excellence. For 25 consecutive years, U.S. News and World Report has included John Carroll University in its “America’s Best Colleges” guide. Most recently, U.S. News and World Report ranked the university at number seven among Midwest regional universities. Its Boler School of Business consistently ranks in the top ten business schools in the Midwest.

Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA)

This Boler School of Business graduate program is open to any student regardless of academic background. The leading requirement is that the student seeks to enter an accountancy career. Students who do not have a strong accounting background will need to take additional foundational courses, but they are not excluded simply because they did not select an undergraduate major in business or accounting. Faculty members also are practitioners so the program is taught from the practitioner perspective, making it one of the leading choices among accredited accounting degree programs in Ohio. It also carries a high degree of rigor. The result is that graduates of this program have a very high pass rate on Ohio’s CPA exam. The Boler School of Business consistently places near the top of pass rates on Ohio’s CPA exam.

Accreditation

  • The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
  • The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (NCA HLC)

Contact
1 John Carroll Boulevard
University Heights, Ohio 44118
Phone: (216) 397-1970
Email: gradbusiness@jcu.edu
Website: http://sites.jcu.edu/boler/pages/graduate-programs/masters-of-accountancy/

The programs and universities discussed above represent only a portion of the high quality graduate programs in accounting available in Ohio. There are several accredited accounting degree programs in Ohio serving the needs of those who seek to sit for Ohio’s CPA exam and work in the accounting profession.