Requirements for a Major or Minor in Business: Accounting


Major in Accounting
Students must take supporting and foundation classes prior to enrolling in upper-division courses (300 and 400 level). Permission may be granted by the instructor for students to concurrently take one foundation or supporting class with upper-division courses. It is recommended that students take the MATH 121 course prior to economics and accounting courses.

The requirements for a major in accounting are 64 credits:
• 8 credits in required supporting courses:
– CSC 104 – Software Applications for Business, 4 credits
– MATH 121 – Calculus 1, 4 credits
• 20 credits in business foundation courses:
– BUS 201 – Principles of Global Economics, 4 credits
– BUS 210 – Ethics and Leadership, 4 credits
– BUS 262 – Introduction to Business Law, 4 credits
– ACCT 255 – Principles of Financial Accounting, 4 credits
– ACCT 256 – Principles of Managerial Accounting, 4 credits
• 15 credits in business core courses:
– BUSN 303 – Managerial Finance in the Global Economy, 3 credits
– BUSN 315 – Management Information Systems, 3 credits
– BUS 339 – Principles of Management, 3 credits
– BUSN 351 – Principles of Marketing and Sales, 3 credits
– ACCT 495 – Audit (Capstone), 3 credits
• 21 credits in accounting courses:
– ACCT 355 – Intermediate Accounting I, 3 credits
– ACCT 356 – Intermediate Accounting II, 3 credits
– ACCT 366 – Cost Accounting, 3 credits
– ACCT 454 – Advanced Accounting, 3 credits
– BUSN 320 – Advanced Business Statistics, 3 credits
• 3 credits from the following:
– ACCT 390 – Internship, 1 to 8 credits
– ACCT 300 – May Seminar, 3 credits
– ACCT 420 – Fraud, 3 credits
– ACCT 430 – Forensic Accounting, 3 credits
• recommended supporting courses:
– COM 205 – Advanced Public Speaking, 4 credits
– COM 312 – Interpersonal Communication, 4 credits
– COM 314 – Group Communications, 4 credits
– ENG 316 – Business Writing, 4 credits
– ENG 324 – Technical Writing, 4 credits
– ENG 371 – Editing and Grammar for Professionals, 4 credits

150-Hour Education Requirement
for Certified Public Accountants
All graduates of accounting programs will be required to meet the Minnesota or North Dakota 150-hour requirement if they desire certification (CPA) and licensure to practice as a certified public accountant in those states. This education requirement does not relate to corporate positions or to most governmental accounting positions. Since the certification requirement only specifies that graduates applying to be CPAs must have 150 credit hours, various options exist to meet this requirement. Concordia students need 24 credit hours above the 126 credit hours required to graduate.

There are many options that will satisfy the 150-hour requirements for licensure and meet the interests and goals of individual students. Also, other states have 150 credit hour requirements that differ slightly from Minnesota’s. Accounting students should discuss their plans with an advisor from the accounting faculty to be certain they have explored the various options thoroughly and made choices that match well with their interests.

For students who choose to complete their 150 credit hours at Concordia the following are some of the options:
• Accounting elective classes noted above
• Other business classes
• Double major in accounting and business or international business
• Classes through Tri-College
• Co-ops (ACCT 390) are available locally, as well as in Minneapolis and other larger cities, for those students who wish to apply their accounting knowledge in the workplace.

For students who choose to complete their 150 credit hours at another institution, Concordia has a partnership with the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., through which accounting students will be given priority enrollment in the University of St. Thomas’ Master of Science in Accountancy program. This master’s program would begin in July after Concordia’s May graduation and would be completed by June of the following year (11 months). This program consists of 31 semester hours of graduate coursework, with a guaranteed paid internship with a firm in the Twin Cities during the second semester. Students may also wish to pursue graduate study, such as an M.B.A. or a master’s degree in accounting, at other graduate schools. As with the University of St. Thomas program, this could satisfy the 150-hour requirement while developing a deeper understanding of accounting and earning a graduate degree.