Three reasons the MBA in Professional Accounting remains relevant at 60

The Rutgers MBA in Professional Accounting Program isn’t trendy. It isn’t offered online and classes don’t fall on weekends, but it is enduring.

Innovative in the sense that it was created for liberal arts students who haven’t studied accounting or business, the 60-year-old program is still going strong and remains a smart path to an accounting career.

Here are three reasons why:

No. 1: It’s quick. A student is done in 14 months – that’s 10 months shorter than a traditional MBA. Whether you’re considering a career transition or interested in gaining more knowledge, one of the biggest attractions of the program is the relatively short amount of time it takes to complete it. Two months are devoted to an internship and the bulk of the program moves at an accelerated pace as students learn, network and interview simultaneously. The length of time doesn’t impact quality. The professors are the same ones who teach in Rutgers Business School’s highly ranked MBA and specialty master’s programs.

No. 2: It’s a feeder program into regional accounting firms, including the Big Four. The program benefits from one of Rutgers Business School’s strengths: accounting. Rutgers has long-standing connections to the accounting industry and has supplied it with talented graduates for years. The job placement rate for domestic students on or before graduation was 78 percent for 2017. Within the first weeks of the program, students are meeting alumni and recruiters from accounting firms in the region. The majority of offers – 71 percent – come from Big Four firms. A growing number of students – 29 percent of the recent class of graduates – are choosing mid-sized firms for quality of life reasons, according to Alexander Sannella, the program director.

No. 3 or, maybe, just the icing on the cake: Students leave the program with the 150 credits necessary to take the CPA, another important credential that makes graduates of the program more marketable. It’s one more benefit of the unique MBA program.

Want to learn more? Visit one of the upcoming Graduate Admissions Open Houses to speak with faculty and students about how the Rutgers MBA in Professional Accounting can benefit you.

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