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Accounting

Here Are the 11 Best Online Master’s in Accounting Programs in 2023, According to Fortune

Four of the top 11 programs are at universities based in New York and North Carolina, but No. 1 can be found in Texas.

Shortly after Fortune released its ranking of the 100 best companies to work for in 2023, which included a smattering of public accounting firms, the business magazine came out with its inaugural ranking of the best online master’s degree programs in accounting.

“Accounting is an essential component of any business today, and an online master’s degree program in accounting could ready graduates for CPA licensure or unlock job opportunities for those accountants seeking to boost their careers,” Fortune said.

For its ranking, Fortune assessed the selectivity of the online master of accounting programs at the institutions as measured by their students’ average undergraduate grade-point average and the average number of years of work experience of those students, in addition to also considering the colleges’ first-year retention rate and its graduation rate, which accounted for 75% of the overall ranking score.

Fortune also looked at the one-year enrollment growth of each program (15%) and partnered with Ipsos to survey 2,500 business professionals and hiring managers to produce a measurement of the “brand appeal” of the college, or “how much a group of people want to recruit from the university” (10%).

Based on that data, Fortune ranked the top 11 online master’s in accounting programs for 2023. Here are the best-of-the-best programs this year:

  1. University of Texas-Dallas
  2. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
  3. University of Massachusetts-Amherst
  4. SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Utica, NY
  5. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb
  6. North Carolina State University, Raleigh
  7. Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
  8. Keiser University, Fort Lauderdale, FL
  9. University of Scranton, Scranton, PA
  10. Ohio University, Athens
  11. Colorado State University–Global Campus, Aurora

“To eventually land a role in senior management, you need to be well-versed in technology, and master’s degree programs in accounting are incorporating more analytical components to help prepare future business leaders,” said Douglas Boyle, an accounting professor and the PhD accounting program director at the University of Scranton. “That’s what a master’s of accountancy provides because accounting is really transitioning and is one of the leading professions on implementing analytics.”

More information about each online master’s in accounting program can be found here.