Accredited diploma
Offered by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Taught in English
Engage in group discussions with professors and peers
18-36 months
32 credit hours of graduate coursework
100% online
Hands-on learning from anywhere, no travel required
$21,492 - $27,200 USD total cost
Depending on elective course choices
Curriculum
The online MS in Accountancy program curriculum is designed to provide students with a relevant set of analytical skills and a consultancy mindset. Delivered by Gies’ top-ranked accounting faculty with decades of industry experience, the iMSA helps students learn to collect and process information and make high-impact strategic decisions for their organization. The iMSA is designed to be a versatile degree. It is equally feasible that a student can use this degree to prepare for the CPA exam as it is that a student can use this degree to fundamentally change how they collect, analyze, and interpret data in their professional lives.
The curriculum is divided between core accounting and analytics coursework and elective coursework. Learning takes place in several modalities: online self-paced lecture content, high-engagement live classes, and practical mastery through hands-on projects as well as in everyday job responsibilities at work.
Projects in the MS in Accounting Master's
Financial Reporting: Learners will assess the validity and completeness of a publicly-traded corporation’s financial statements and disclosures of key risks, and analyze the corporation’s potential for future financial success.
Managerial Accounting and Control: Learners will role-play as managers and identify relevant information, analyze costs and profits, and use information management tools to make a strategic business decision involving uncertainty.
Corporate Tax Strategy: Learners will identify a publicly-traded, global corporation and assess its organizational structure’s effectiveness in minimizing domestic and global tax obligations.
Business Analytics Learners will apply a multi-faceted analytics approach to assess a company’s strategic and operational risk, and identify, measure, and quantify the impact of instances of manager fraud.
High-engagement Live Courses
The iMSA was developed by top accounting faculty to build expertise in leading analytics methods, financial reporting, audit and control, and US federal taxation. This degree prepares you to sit for the CPA exam.
Learn more about the iMSA's high-engagement courses on the Gies website. You can explore the core and elective courses and discover how Gies can build your accounting knowledge.
Try a course before you apply
Ready to sample a course from the iMSA program? Explore the online self-paced lecture content through the following Specializations and courses. These courses are open for anyone to enroll in. If you are admitted to the full program, these open courses count towards your degree learning.
U.S. Federal Taxation Specialization
This Specialization introduces the U.S. federal tax system via conceptual and applied material. Learners will be able to apply basic principles to settings involving individuals, corporations, and other business entities, complete key components of major, individual U.S. federal tax returns, and identify tax-related strategies and implications of structuring transactions and organizations.
Program Length
The iMSA program offers various specializations, including: Financial Reporting, U.S. Federal Tax, and Data Analytics. You can complete the iMSA in as few as 4 semesters (18 months) or as many as 8 semesters (36 months).
Application Deadlines:
- Fall Applications Open: January 6, 2025
- Fall Priority 1 Deadline: April 3, 2025
- Fall Priority 2 Deadline: May 1, 2025
- Final Fall Deadline: June 5, 2025
Upcoming Events:
- Mock Class | March 12, 2025 at 6 PM CT - Register here
- LinkedIn Live with Gies Online | March 20, 2025 at 12 PM CT - Register here
- iDegrees Program Webinar | March 22, 2025 at 9 AM CT - Register here
Have questions?
Please contact Gies College of Business at giesonline@illinois.edu.
Upcoming Events
The full Gies Online Events Calendar can be found here.
Application Deadlines:
- Fall Applications Open: January 6, 2025
- Fall Priority 1 Deadline: April 3, 2025
- Fall Priority 2 Deadline: May 1, 2025
- Final Fall Deadline: June 5, 2025
Upcoming Events:
- Mock Class | March 12, 2025 at 6 PM CT - Register here
- LinkedIn Live with Gies Online | March 20, 2025 at 12 PM CT - Register here
- iDegrees Program Webinar | March 22, 2025 at 9 AM CT - Register here
Have questions?
Please contact Gies College of Business at giesonline@illinois.edu.
Upcoming Events
The full Gies Online Events Calendar can be found here.
Flexible curriculum designed to empower you in your career goals
Preparation is key to your success in this program. For successful completion of the degree, all iMBA students are required to:
Complete 72 credit hours
Complete 4 core specializations
Complete 2 focus area specializations or 1 focus area specialization & elective path
Complete 2 specialization capstones
Complete the program capstone
Complete degree within 5 years
Earn a cumulative GPA of 2.75
Curriculum
- Leadership and Teams – BADM 508 (4 credit hours)
- Managing Organizations – BADM 509 (4 credit hours)
- Strategic Management – BADM 544 (4 credit hours)
- Core 1 Capstone – MBA 590 (0 credit hours)
- Statistics Management Decision Making – BADM 572 (4 credit hours)
- Microeconomics for Business – FIN 574 (4 credit hours)
- Money and Banking – FIN 571 (4 credit hours)
- Core 2 Capstone – MBA 590 (0 credit hours)
- Marketing Management – BADM 520 (4 credit hours)
- Process Management – BADM 567 (4 credit hours)
- Managerial Accounting – ACCY 503 (4 credit hours)
- Core 3 Capstone – MBA 590 (0 credit hours)
- Accounting Measurement, Reporting, and Control (Financial Accounting) ACCY 500 (4 credit hours)
- Investments – FIN 511 (4 credit hours)
- Corporate Finance – FIN 570 (4 credit hours)
- Core 4 Capstone – MBA 590 (0 credit hours)
- Global Marketing – MBA 547 (4 credit hours)
- Global Strategy – MBA 548 (4 credit hours)
- Multiculturalism in Management and the Workplace - MBA 599 (4 credit hours)
- Focus Area Capstone – MBA 590 (0 credit hours)
- Strategic Innovation – MBA 551 (4 credit hours)
- Fostering Creative Thinking – MBA 552 (4 credit hours)
- Entrepreneurship: From Startup to Growth – MBA 553 (4 credit hours)
- Focus Area Capstone – MBA 590 (0 credit hours)
- Digital Marketing Analytics – MBA 542 (4 credit hours)
- Digital Media and Marketing – MBA 543 (4 credit hours)
- Marketing in Our New Digital World – MBA 545 (4 credit hours)
- Focus Area Capstone – MBA 590 (0 credit hours)
- Introduction to Business Analytics with R – MBA 561 (4 credit hours)
- Introduction to Business Analytics: Communicating with Data – MBA 562 (4 credit hours)
- Data Toolkit: Business Data Modeling and Predictive Analytics – MBA 563 (4 credit hours)
- Applying Data Analytics in Marketing – MBA 564-1 (2 credit hours)
- Applying Data Analytics in Accounting – MBA 564-2 (2 credit hours)
- Finance of Mergers and Acquisitions – FIN 572 (4 credit hours)
- Investment Banking Concepts – FIN 573 (4 credit hours)
- Mergers and Acquisitions and Other Complex Transactions – ACCY 532 (4 credit hours)
Students may take 12 elective credit hours that can be applied to their degree to satisfy one of the two focus area specialization requirements. Elective courses do not have capstones or certificates associated with their completion.
- Financial Statement Analysis for MBAs – ACCY 531 (4 credit hours)
- Risk Management and Innovation – ACCY 574 (4 credit hours)
- Project Management – BADM 589 (4 credit hours)
- Infonomics – MBA 565 (4 credit hours)
- Global Business Horizons – MBA 546 (4 credit hours)