How to navigate the Rice MAcc business prerequisites.
The Texas State Board of Public Accountancy (TSBPA) requires CPA candidates to have completed 150 collegiate credit hours to sit for the CPA Exam. Of those 150 credit hours, 24 must be from qualifying related business courses.
The curriculum of Rice’s Master of Accounting program provides 9 of the related business credit hours. Therefore, incoming Rice MAcc students need to have completed the remaining 15 credit hours before starting the program.
Related business courses are any non-accounting business area classes. The TSBPA categorizes these business courses into the following nine subject areas:
There are two important caveats about these subject areas.
First, while classes from the “Economics” and “Statistics and quantitative methods” subject areas can be from any course level, the TSPBA requires that related business courses from the remaining subject areas be upper-level (300-level or higher) courses.
Second, the TSBPA will accept a maximum of only 6 credit hours per subject area. Keeping this cap in mind, you will need to carefully review your college transcripts to determine if you have met the required 15 related business credits. Using this table, take into account the subject areas that the 9 credits of Rice MAcc related business coursework fall under. For example, since the Rice MAcc program includes a 3-credit business law class, only 3 credits of business law coursework taken prior to the MAcc program will count toward the related business credit hours in the “Business Law” category.
If you have completed a bachelor’s degree but are lacking 15 related business credit hours, you can take TSBPA-approved related business courses from a community college before beginning the Rice MAcc program. Applicants are welcome to consult the Rice MAcc Director Prof. Ben Lansford about approved community college courses.
Remember, the TSBPA itself makes the determination about which courses they will accept toward the related business requirement. Therefore, the sole way to be certain you have will have fulfilled the related business coursework requirements upon graduating from the Rice MAcc is by having the TSPBA formally review your academic transcripts. The TSPBA calls this transcript review process the “Application of Intent” (AOI).
All incoming students should submit their AOI before starting the Rice MAcc. You can find the AOI form on the TSBPA website here.
Although the CPA Exam itself is the same across the country, the educational requirements to be eligible for the exam vary from state to state. If you are planning to take the CPA Exam in a state other than Texas, research the educational requirements in your state of interest and consult Rice MAcc Program Director Prof. Ben Lansford for guidance.
Visit https://www.tsbpa.texas.gov for complete details about the TSPBA’s educational requirements to sit for the CPA Exam. Also refer to the “program prerequisites” section of our Rice MAcc FAQs page.
We encourage you to reach out to us with any questions or to find out whether the Rice MAcc program is a good fit for your career goals. Click here for more information about our admissions process.
We recently caught up with Blakely Maynard, who earned her Master of Accounting (MAcc) degree from Rice in 2020. We asked her a few questions about her professional journey since she graduated from our program. Read what she told us below!
We recently caught up with Sherwin Philip, who graduated from Rice’s Master of Accounting (MAcc) program in 2022. We asked him a few questions about his experience working at one of the “Big Four” public accounting firms. Read what he told us below!
Grant Ketterer, MAcc Class of 2023, brings us along for a day in the life of a Rice MAcc student.
