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Accounting

The 30 Most Affordable Accounting Masters Degree Programs

The rankings consist of the top 30 most affordable programs based on the tuition and fees for earning the degree. Only institutions with accounting accreditation from Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business were considered for the rankings.

Going back to school to complete a degree or earn a higher degree can be challenging, particularly when a mid-career professional has the responsibilities or work and family. And then there’s the cost.

Accounting Degree Review (www.accounting-degree.org),has released its 2015 affordability rankings for residential master’s degrees in accounting from U.S. schools. The rankings consist of the top 30 most affordable programs based on the tuition and fees for earning the degree. Accounting Degree Review is an accounting resource website about higher education and related topics.

The tuition and fees were calculated for an out-of-state full-time student with a bachelor’s degree in accounting who started the program in Fall 2014.

Only the 170 U.S. institutions with accounting accreditation from Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) were considered by Accounting Degree Review for the rankings. The publication restricted its research to these schools because AACSB accounting accreditation is the best programmatic accreditation for accounting programs worldwide.

“While many students are familiar with AACSB accreditation for business programs and the prestige that comes with it, accounting students often do not know that AACSB also accredits accounting programs with a separate accreditation,” commented Dee Barizo, Accounting Degree Review editor. “We chose to look only at programs with this accreditation to add quality control to our rankings. It’s telling that only 170 schools in the nation have this type of accreditation. These schools have undergone extra scrutiny for their accounting programs and passed with flying colors. Therefore, while the schools in the ranking are low cost, it does not mean that they are lacking in education quality at all.”

  1. With a price tag of $18,486, Weber State University earned first place in the rankings. Missouri State University took second place with tuition and fees of $19,282.
    “Located in Ogden, Utah, Weber State University (WSU) is a public university ranked 348th in Washington Monthly’s 2014 Master’s Universities rankings. The school enrolled 657 master’s students in the 2013-2014 academic year. WSU was named a top school in the West by The Princeton Review. Utah residents pay $8,970 in tuition and fees. In the 2013-2014 school year, WSU distributed close to $13 million in scholarship funds and $95 million in financial aid packages to 13,759 students.”
  2. Missouri State University
  3. University of Central Missouri
  4. Western Kentucky University
  5. University of Southern Mississippi

For the schools ranked 6-30 and additional information on the institutions, visit http://www.accounting-degree.org/most-affordable-masters-degrees-in-accounting/.

The tuition and fees of all the schools were under $25,500 and the average cost was around $22,700.