Accounting: BS/Pathway to the CPA-150/150E

Program Details

The program requirements below are for the B.S. in Accounting. Students pursuing a B.S. in Accounting as part of the B.S. Accounting - MBA Business Management Dual 150/150E CPA  Registered Licensure Qualifying Degree Program, should follow the program requirements listed under the graduate programs web site. The B.S. in Accounting must contain 24-cr. upper level in accounting, including Advanced Accounting, Federal Income Tax II, Accounting Information Systems, and Auditing.

Required Courses 

Educational Planning Course4
BUSN 2010Business Statistics4
or MATH 1065 Statistics
Core Accounting Courses
ACCT 2005Introductory Accounting I: Financial Accounting4
ACCT 2010Introductory Accounting II: Managerial Accounting4
ACCT 3025Intermediate Accounting I4
ACCT 3030Intermediate Accounting II4
ACCT 3010Cost Accounting4
ACCT 4010Advanced Accounting4
ACCT 3015Federal Income Tax I: Individual Income Tax4
ACCT 3020Federal Income Tax II: Business Income Tax4
ACCT 4005Accounting Information Systems4
ACCT 4015Auditing4
Core Business Courses
ECON 2015Macroeconomics4
ECON 2020Microeconomics4
MGMT 3060Organizational Behavior4
BUSN 1010Business Law I4
BUSN 2005Business Law II4
FSMA 3010Corporate Finance4
Upper-Level Business Elective4

Learning Outcomes

  • General broad business competencies: Students will be able to identify the legal, economic, ethical, organizational, and global forces and their impact on a business environment and its sustainability and continuity.
  • Accounting and professional competencies: Students will be able to apply accounting theory and professional standards dealing with special topics in accounting that demand distinctive in-depth study and define the applicable accounting principles and standards for various industries and businesses’ forms.
  • Higher level of professional functional competencies: Students will be able to apply accounting principles to a more complex business forms, and utilize technology, demonstrating a higher level of financial reporting and demonstrate their professional skepticism to risk management.

Pathways to graduate Programs and educational Requirements for the 150/150E CPA License:

There are various pathways for students who are interested to pursue a career as Certified Public Accountants:

1- B.S. Accounting/MBA CPA-150/150E NYS Licensure-Qualifying Registered Program NYS. 

The Dual program BS in Accounting/MBA is listed among the licensure-qualifying programs by the NYS Education Department's inventory of Registered Programs CPA 150 and CPA 150E (Programs leading to professional licenses). There is no requirement for undergraduate concurred degree plan. Students upon meeting the program's admission requirements may apply directly to the graduate program.

The BS in Accounting is a pathway towards the achievement of the 150 and 150E CPA educational requirement with cost and time saving (Dual Program BS/MBA 152 total credits instead of total 160-cr. for both degrees separately.). The program awards Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Accounting & Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Business Management. More information about this program can be found on the graduate programs web site. The program is 152-credit dual degree program allows highly qualified applicants to the Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree program or current  students enrolled in that program to complete three selected graduate courses (9 credits, cost undergraduate tuition) required for the Master of Business Administration (General Business Track). These courses will count toward both the undergraduate degree (125-cr.] and the graduate degree (additional 27-cr.). Successful completion of the BS in Accounting program which includes the selected graduate courses puts students on track to complete additional graduate courses required for CPA-150/150E licensure.

Eligibility: To apply to the for the BS/MBA program, applicants must have a minimum 3.2 GPA (calculated of up to the last sixty credits earned before applying). Students must complete an undergraduate application.  If the students have less than 60 credits, at the time of their applications, they are conditionally accepted to the program if they have a minimum GPA of 3.2 in the credits they completed. Then, they will be continuously monitored until they complete at least sixty credits and the program prerequisites. If their GPA goes below 3.2 during their conditional acceptance, then they will be dismissed from the program. Officially admitted students can start taking graduate courses. There is no monitoring after official acceptance. After this point, students must meet graduate expectations for academic progress and grade point average in their master’s level courses to remain in the dual or any other degree pathway. 

The following are the three dual listed/counted graduate courses and their equivalency in the BS in Accounting:

  • GR MGMT 6020 Leadership & Executive Development, 3cr = UG MGMT 3060 Organizational Behavior.
  • GR MGMT 6025 Strategic Perspectives of Global Management, 3cr = UG Business Elective.
  • GR MGMT 6075 International Financial Management, 3cr = UG FSMA 3010 Corporate Finance.

Students are required to complete all their bachelor’s degree requirements and be cleared for graduation from their bachelor’s degree to be able to continue with the remaining MBA courses. For the Dual Program Student must include the following three graduate courses required instead of electives for the BMA program: 

  • FSMA 6060 Strategic Cost Analysis, 3cr,
  • FSMA 6080 International Accounting, 3cr.
  • APAN 6025 Applied Management Analytics, 3-cr.
  • Contact School of Graduate Studies: Dr. Joseph Angiello. * General Inquiry: grad@sunyempire.edu
  • Contact School of Business Undergraduate Studies: Dr. Nazik Roufaiel

2- Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Degrees | Empire State University (sunyempire.edu):

Apply to the Combined Degree Pathway BS/BPS in Business, Management, and Economics (Accounting Practices Concentration)/ MBA in Business Management Program[EC1] The combined pathway requires 148 credits total, of which 36 are master’s credits leading to the MBA in Business Management, and twelve graduate credits (four courses each 3-cr., undergraduate tuitions) to be counted towards both the bachelor and master's degrees. Students must meet all college, AOS, and relevant concentration guidelines. Students do not have to have a concurred degree program to apply for a combined pathway. Students must plan their degree early in their career to benefit from the four combined pathway courses that would satisfy both the BS/BPS in Accounting Practices & MBA.

Eligibility: to apply to the BS/MBA program, applicants must have a minimum 3.2 GPA (calculated of up to the last sixty credits earned before applying). Students must complete an undergraduate application.  If the students have less than 60 credits, at the time of their applications, they are conditionally accepted to the program if they have a minimum GPA of 3.2 in the credits they completed. Then, they will be continuously monitored until they complete at least sixty credits and the program prerequisites. If their GPA goes below 3.2 during their conditional acceptance, then they will be dismissed from the program. Officially admitted students can start taking graduate courses. There is no monitoring after official acceptance. After this point, students must meet graduate expectations for academic progress and grade point average in their master’s level courses to remain in the dual or any other degree pathway. Students must complete the prerequisite courses in accounting, statistics, macroeconomics, and microeconomics with a C or better grade. Students must be aware of the total educational credits requirements a minimum of 150-cr. for the CPA 150/150E License. 

The following are the four dual listed/counted graduate courses and their equivalency in the BS/BPS in Accounting Practices

  • MGMT 6020 Leadership & Executive Development, 3cr = UG MGMT 3060 Organizational Behavior
  • MGMT 6025 Strategic Perspectives of Global Management, 3cr = UG Business Elective
  • MGMT 6075 International Financial Management, 3cr = UG FSMA 3010 Corporate Finance
  • Any business graduate elective course fits the minimum accounting (33-cr.) educational credits requirements and the minimum business credit required (36-cr.) for the CPA. Students are advised to include a graduate business analytics course for the 150E CPA. APAN 6025 Applied Management Analytics.

Completing the MBA Program: Students must meet graduate expectations for academic progress and grade point average in their master’s level courses to remain in the combined degree pathway. Students must declare their MBA concentration at this time.

  • Contact School of Graduate Studies: Dr. Betul Lus. General Inquiry: grad@sunyempire.edu
  • Contact School of Business Undergraduate Studies: Dr. Nazik Roufaiel.

3- Undergraduate Enrollment in Graduate Courses 

Students may enroll in up to Nine graduate credits (three graduate courses) by pursuing Undergraduate Enrollment in Graduate Courses They pay undergraduate tuition fees for these graduate courses. This is a wonderful opportunity to save money and time by advancing to a graduate program. Students may complete the credits necessary to meet the 150-credit hour educational requirement, and its distribution, through graduate and/or undergraduate courses [BS/BPS]. Submit the online Undergraduate Enrollment in Graduate Courses Permission Form. For information on the NYS Public Accountancy requirements, go to New York State Education Department's Public Accountancy web page

Eligibility: An undergraduate student must be within thirty-two (32) credits of completing a bachelor’s degree and must have a concurred degree program.

  • Contact School of Graduate Studies: Dr. Betul Lus. General Inquiry: grad@sunyempire.edu
  • Contact School of Business Undergraduate Studies: Dr. Nazik Roufaiel.