Bridgewater State College

School of Management & Aviation Science Memo to Accounting Students updated April 24, 2000

The Board of Higher Education in Boston has recently approved Bridgewater State Colleges' application for a new Master's degree. This Master's degree will consist of a total of ten courses and will include an Accounting concentration. The new graduate degree will be part of a five year integrated Bachelor's/Master's program, allowing students to receive both a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree. The program is designed to comply with the 150-hour legislation, scheduled to take effect in Massachusetts, on July 1, 2002. The 150-hour rule mandates that candidates who sit for the CPA exam, after July 1, 2002, must first have completed 150 hours of education (this translates into an additional ten courses beyond the traditional Bachelor's degree.)

Starting in September, 2000, Accounting students will have a choice regarding curriculum options.

Accounting students must select a program of study from one of the following three tracks:

Use the below decision-tree diagram to determine which track you should pursue.

A) CPA-TRACK 120 HOURS (BS degree): NOTE: This is the Accounting curriculum currently in place at BSC. Students who plan on sitting for the CPA exam, and plan on graduating on/or before May, 2002, should complete the requirements outlined in the CPA-Track/120-hour program guide. These students may voluntarily opt to apply for acceptance into the master's program, if they feel it would benefit their careers. Students who are on the CPA-Track (120 hours/BS degree) should enroll in Advanced Accounting and Auditing as 400-level undergraduate credit courses. Please see the additional information at the bottom of this sheet, regarding changes in Advanced Accounting and Auditing.

B) CPA-TRACK 150 HOURS (BS/MS degrees): Students who plan on sitting for the CPA exam, and plan on graduating after May, 2002, should complete the requirements for the integrated 5-year (Bachelor's & Master's) degree program, 
outlined in the CPA-Track/150-hour program guide.  Students will be allowed to apply for acceptance into the Master's program at the end of their junior year, thus allowing them to take both undergraduate level and graduate level courses over their remaining four semesters. Students in this program, should enroll for Advanced Accounting & Auditing as 500-level courses.

C) NON-CPA TRACK 120 Hours (BS degree): Students who do not plan on sitting for the CPA exam, may complete the requirements outlined in the Non-CPA Track/120-hour program guide. (note that Advanced Accounting and Auditing are no longer required in this track, however you may wish to enroll in these courses as electives).

Please note that effective, FALL-2000, both Advanced Accounting and Auditing will be taught only in the evening. The Fall-2000 day section of AF-460-01 will be cancelled. This Fall, Advanced Accounting will be offered on Tues. at 6PM. Next Spring, we will be offering Auditing only in the evening (tentatively, Wed. at 6PM). Both of these courses will be cross-listed for undergraduate and graduate credit, thus allowing students maximum flexibility in completing their chosen program of study. CPA candidate students who plan on graduating on or before to May 2002, should register for these courses for undergraduate credit. Students who are enrolled in the Master's program, should register for these courses for graduate credit. If students opt to take these courses for graduate credit, additional assignments and/or projects will be assigned. In fairness to day students, who began the program prior to these changes, the Administration has agreed to allow full-time day students to take these courses as part of their full-time course load. In this way, full-time students will be allowed to take Advanced or Auditing in the evening and not have to pay additional evening tuition. To be eligible for this tuition waiver, students must contact the Office of Academic Affairs. 

Over the next several months, additional details regarding the new Master's degree will be announced. Interested students can find out about this information from the following sources:

1) By visiting the official Accounting/Finance Department Web site at: http://www.bridgew.edu/depts/acctfin

(click on "New Masters Program" )

2) By viewing the A-F bulletin board located outside of the A-F office (L-229).

3) Please note that an email distribution list for Accounting students in now being developed. It is our hope that this list will be operational by mid-summer. It is therefore important that all Accounting students periodically view their BSC mail account for updates. BSC email accounts are available free of charge to all matriculated students. If you do not have a BSC email account, you should open one up by simply registering at the following web site:    http://www.bridgew.edu/services/email/policy.cfm

BSC's Microsoft Outlook email accounts are web-based and may be accessed from any internet-connected PC in the world.

The newly approved MSM (Master of Science in Management) will include a total of ten courses. To complete the MSM with a concentration in Accounting, students will have to complete the following ten courses:

Typical MBA programs are designed for individuals who possess undergraduate degrees in non-business areas. Requiring courses such as Principles of Accounting, Principles of Management and Principles of Marketing would be redundant since our target market will be students who already possess Bachelors degrees in Management or Accounting/Finance.

The ten course Master of Science in Management (with Accounting concentration) will provide for a highly focused and efficient curriculum. The three required upper-level MIS courses are of particular value since today's Accounting professionals must possess a high level of computer literacy.

Extensive research was undertaken in the development of the Master's curriculum, including surveying of regional employers.

During the transitional stage, every reasonable effort will be made to avoid inconveniencing our Accounting students. Undoubtedly, the approval of the Master's program is a major achievement for our Accounting program. The approval of the Master's program represents the culmination of over seven years of planning in order to ensure that our Accounting program is 150 hour compliant. I would like to acknowledge the work of Professor Harold Silverman, Professor Kathleen Sevigny, Professor Patricia Bancroft and our Dean, Larry Richards for their dedication and effort in making this new degree program a reality. Finally, the many accomplishments of our Accounting students also played an important role in the Board of Higher Education's decision to award this new Master's degree program to Bridgewater State College.

Note: The above information is intended to assist students in selecting concentration tracks.  Please note that the College Catalog is the official college resource for program information.

This page is maintained by the Department of Accounting & Finance
Please send comments to: AFdept@bridgew.edu