Pre-Enrollment Requirements

The following undergraduate courses are pre-enrollment requirements for the Texas MPA program and should be completed with a passing grade prior to applying for admission:

• Principles of Macroeconomics 
  
  Analysis of the economy as a whole (its organization and the basic forces influencing its growth and development); money and banking, national income, public finance, and international linkages.
• Principles of Microeconomics 
  Analysis of the economic behavior of individual consumers, firms, and workers; special attention to the role of markets.
• Introduction to Statistics 
  Training in the use of data to gain insight into business problems; describing distributions (center, spread, change, and relationships), producing data (experiments and sampling), probability and inference (means, proportions, differences, regression and correlation). (Although a business statistics course is preferred, this pre-enrollment requirement can be fulfilled with an equivalent statistics course from a discipline outside of business.)
• Introduction to Financial Accounting 
  Concepts and their application in transaction analysis and financial statement preparation; analysis of financial statements.
  
• Introduction to Managerial Accounting (recommended for those starting in fall 2013; required for fall 2014) 
  Introduction to cost behavior, budgeting, responsibility accounting, cost control, and product costing.
  

These courses may be completed at any degree-granting, accredited 4-year university or community college either via a traditional classroom or online course. Although a letter grade is preferred, a class for which credit was granted is sufficient to fulfill a pre-enrollment requirement. Advanced Placement or CLEP credit which appears on a transcript can fulfill an economics or statistics pre-enrollment requirement.

Ideally, all pre-enrollment requirements should be completed prior to applying for admission to the MPA program. In certain cases, a high-achieving applicant who is lacking a pre-enrollment requirement(s) may be admitted to the program. In these cases, the applicant should have plans in place to complete the remaining pre-enrollment(s) prior to enrolling in the MPA program. Under extenuating circumstances, course requirements that have not been met prior to enrolling in the MPA program can be taken at The University of Texas at Austin at the graduate tuition rate in the student's first semester.* Please note that these courses will not count toward the MPA degree, and completing this coursework after enrolling in the MPA program will most likely extend a student's graduation date.

*The completion of Introduction to Financial Accounting prior to applying for admission is highly recommended, and the course must be completed prior to the start of the MPA program. Students who have not completed this course at another institution will be required to enroll in ACC 311-Fundamentals of Financial Accounting in the first 6-week summer session. ACC 311 (or the equivalent) is a prerequisite to ACC 381-Financial Accounting, a graduate-level MPA core course that is offered in the second 6-week summer session.

Additional pre-enrollment requirements that do not require the completion of coursework include the following:

• Computer spreadsheet proficiency (e.g., Excel)
• Proficiency in English (if English is not your native language)

Applicants concerned with their competency in spreadsheet proficiency should consider enhancing their spreadsheet skills prior to enrolling in the MPA program. If an international student's scores on the TOEFL or other evaluation measure is below an acceptable level, he or she most likely will not be accepted to the MPA program. 

Core Courses

The MPA degree program requires the completion of 42 semester hours of coursework as outlined in the summary of MPA degree requirements.

• Students may waive up to two core courses and reduce their MPA program to 36 credit hours (the minimum required for the degree) if the equivalent is completed at a four-year college or university prior to entering the MPA program.
• If students complete the equivalent to more than two core courses prior to enrolling in the MPA program, an accounting or business elective(s) will be substituted for the core course(s) so that coursework is not repeated.

The completion of a minimum of 19 hours of accounting is required, including a minimum of 4 accounting courses beyond the core. Determination of any waivers or substitutions will be made during initial advising, after a student has been admitted to the MPA program. Syllabi or course descriptions may be requested for review before a waiver or substitution is approved.

Course descriptions and the basis of the waiver or substitution for each course are described below.

Core Course Descriptions

• ACC 180C - MPA Distinguished Speaker Lyceum (1 cr.) 
  The MPA Distinguished Speaker Lyceum is a distinctive feature of the MPA program which gives students the opportunity to interact on a regular basis with outstanding professionals from accounting practice and the business community, both from Texas and across the nation. Throughout the fall, prominent representatives of accounting practice, business, and government speak to students about a variety of important issues affecting professionals today. In this way, students gain insights about professional life and current issues and topics beyond what is usually covered in textbooks. MPA students enjoy becoming acquainted with some of the people whose names appear regularly in The Wall Street Journal, the Journal of Accountancy, and similar business periodicals. Required for all MPA students.
  
• ACC 381 - Financial Accounting (3 cr.) 
  Financial Accounting covers concepts and issues involved in the preparation and interpretation of financial statements and the use of this information to evaluate and control an organization. May be waived on the basis of two semesters of financial accounting, including one semester of intermediate accounting, at the undergraduate level with a grade of B or better. Please note that students who do not qualify for the Financial Accounting waiver will be required to complete two courses during the second 6-week summer session, which begins in mid July.
• ACC 387.1 - Managerial Accounting (3 cr.) 
  Managerial Accounting discusses the origination, processing, and operational uses of accounting information for management purposes. The course integrates within a business setting the topics of cost determination, economic analysis, capital budgeting, and management and financial controls. May be waived or substituted on the basis of two semesters of managerial accounting, including cost accounting, at the undergraduate level with a grade of B or better.
  
• BA 285T - Financial Management (2 cr.) 
  Financial Management examines the theory and practice of corporate finance with a focus on a corporation's investment and financing decisions. Major topics include risk and return, valuation, asset markets and market efficiency, capital budgeting, capital structure, dividend policy, and derivative securities. May be waived or substituted on the basis of two semesters of finance, including business or corporate finance, at the undergraduate level with a grade of B or better.
  
• LEB 380.30 - Legal Environment of Business for MPAs (3 cr.) 
  Legal Environment of Business for MPAs enhances the students' understanding of legal processes in order that they may make effective and efficient business decisions. The course will also improve the students' skills in recognizing and managing legal and ethical risks in business decision making. May be waived or substituted on the basis of one semester of business law (taken at a U.S. college or university), which includes a background of the U.S. legal system, contract law, tort law, and agency/employment law, at the undergraduate level with a grade of B or better.
• ACC 380K.1 - Financial Accounting Standards and Analysis I (3 cr.) 
  Financial Accounting Standards and Analysis I (Intermediate Financial) teaches students current accounting principles and their application. This course also includes the interpretation and evaluation of a company's financial statements. May be waived or substituted on the basis of two semesters of intermediate accounting at the undergraduate level with a grade of B or better.
  
• ACC 380K.4 - Introduction to Assurance Services (3 cr.) 
  Introduction to Assurance Services provides a basic understanding of the audit process, while focusing on the value of assurance services and internal control from the decision-maker's perspective. May be waived or substituted on the basis of one semester of introductory auditing at the undergraduate level with a grade of B or better.
• ACC 380K.11 - Introduction to Taxation (3 cr.) 
  Introduction to Taxation develops an understanding of the economics of taxation, a basic comprehension of federal income tax laws and the rudiments of tax research, and a framework for integrating tax planning into accounting and business decisions. May be waived or substituted on the basis of one semester of introductory taxation at the undergraduate level (taken at a U.S. college or university) with a grade of B or better.
• ACC 380K.13 - Information Technology for Accounting and Control (3 cr.) 
  Information Technology for Accounting and Control examines networking, databases, security, the Internet, and other technology used to support management and accounting controls in all types of organizations, from start-up enterprises to the largest e-commerce firms. May be waived or substituted on the basis of one semester of accounting information systems, including coverage of business processes and accounting control systems, at the undergraduate level with a grade of B or better.

   

Degree Requirement Summary

The minimum number of hours for the MPA degree is 36, including a minimum of 19 hours in accounting and 4 accounting courses beyond the core. The maximum number is 42 hours.

Accounting course descriptions