The University of Tennessee has one of the leading accounting programs in the nation. The program emphasizes the conceptual and applied understanding of business information and prepares students for careers in accounting and business.
The faculty strongly encourages students who desire to become professional accountants, such as Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), to continue their formal education in UT’s full-time, eleven-month Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program, which is described in the University’s Graduate Catalog.
The primary objective of the 30 semester-hour MAcc program, which typically includes 24 graduate-level semester hours of accounting and 6 hours of business, is to prepare students for careers as professional accountants. MAcc students select a specialty area in (1) audit/controls or (2) taxation.
Taken together, the BS and MAcc programs provide graduates not only with two academic degrees, but also with the educational requirements to sit for the CPA exam as well as the academic preparation to begin successful careers as professional accountants. Most states, including Tennessee, require 150 semester hours of education to sit for the CPA exam. At UT, students may earn 120 semester hours in the undergraduate program and then 30 hours in the MAcc program, for a total of 150 semester hours. The accounting faculty strongly encourages MAcc students to take the CPA exam as soon as they qualify.
The UT undergraduate accounting program offers its majors an opportunity to participate in two full-time, highly-structured internship programs. The faculty strongly encourages accounting majors to participate in one or both programs. The first internship program (summer program) emphasizes internships in industry. The industry internship occurs during the summer between the student’s third and fourth year. The second internship program (spring program) emphasizes internships with public accounting firms. Public accounting internships occur during the spring of the student’s fourth year and are designed for those students who intend to enroll in UT’s MAcc program. Both internship experiences are full-time and offer relevant work assignments and significant compensation.
The undergraduate accounting curriculum prepares students for entry into the MAcc program. If taken alone without the MAcc program, the four-year undergraduate curriculum helps prepare students for business careers in which accounting knowledge is particularly important, such as internal auditing.
The undergraduate accounting curriculum introduces students to the major functional areas of accounting (financial, managerial, etc.).The curriculum also requires students to choose a three-course collateral area in one of four areas that closely complement a career in accounting — finance, information management, international business, or logistics.
The UT accounting program has separate accounting accreditation from AACSB International and is one of the first accounting programs to have earned this designation. As an accredited program, the UT accounting program continuously meets or exceeds a rigorous set of international accreditation standards and is peer reviewed on a regular basis.
