Sacramento State University

sacramento-state-university

Finance and Accounting Programs at Sacramento State University

Sacramento State University is also featured in our ranking of the Top 35 Online Master’s in Accounting Degree Programs.

Sacramento State University can help future finance and accounting professionals launch or help their careers through degree programs in both fields. The university offers a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Business Administration in Accountancy that includes a total of 120 credits, including 69 credits of accounting courses. Students need to take four prerequisites and score C or higher in each one before they can declare a major. Cost Accounting, Federal Tax Procedures, Intermediate Accounting I and II and Survey of Auditing, Attest and Assurance Topics are required classes for accounting majors.

In the BS in Business Administration program, students can also choose to study finance. They will need to take the same four prerequisites and score the same grades as accounting majors do before they can declare a finance major. Introduction to Microeconomics, Accounting Fundamentals, and Introduction to Business Law are lower-level classes that they will take. They will also take Financial Management, Investments and Modern Portfolio Management before they can take financial electives. Those electives may include Real Estate Finance, Employee Benefits, Marketing Analytics, and Federal Tax Procedures.

The university offers two graduate programs too, the first of which is a Master of Science (MS) in Accountancy. It includes 30 credits and features a culminating experience at the end of the program. Students have the option of finding a solution to a real-world project and presenting their work or doing some type of internship with an accounting firm. The rest of their credits come from the nine required classes they take that are each worth three credits. Those classes include Governmental and Not-for-Profit Accounting, Financial Reporting I and II, Auditing and Cost Analysis and Control. The university asks majors to take courses on individual taxation and business accounting too.

Also available is a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance. Students need experience in computer software, math, management, accounting, and finance before they enroll. The university requires that they take Legal Environment of Management, Accounting, and Business Economics at the undergraduate level too. MBA students need to take electives from two different groups of classes and do a culminating experience, which can include an internship, final project or thesis. The university also has some required MBA classes that majors need to take, including Managerial Accounting, Financial Management, Behavior Science Application in Management, Value Chain Integration and Marketing Management.

About Sacramento State University

Sacramento State University is one of the informal names given to California State University, Sacramento. It also uses the nicknames CSUS, Sacramento State and Sac State. Established in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it shared a campus with a local junior college and primarily served as a school for World War II veterans. Enrollment quickly grew to include women who wanted to find work in the region after the soldiers returned home and other types of students. The university rebranded in 2004 to Sacramento State, though it remains in the California State University System. While Washington Monthly ranks CSUS as the 15th best graduate school in the country, U.S. News and World Report ranks Sac State as the 55th best university in the west.

Sacramento State University Accreditation Details

Sac State has accreditation for its accounting and finance programs through the accreditation that its business department has, which comes from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). This applies to the undergraduate and graduate programs. With regional accreditation, Sac State can give students financial aid packages. That accreditation comes from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Students need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) if they want a financial aid package.

Sacramento State University Application Requirements

Future Sacramento State undergrads can apply during the fall admissions cycle, which runs from October first to the end of November. They need to take a minimum of 15 credits of classes in high school that prepares them for college, including history, English, science, and math classes. The online application charges a small fee and asks students to report their test scores and high school grades. Students need to make sure that Sacramento State receives their transcripts and test scores too. They have until May first to fill out the intent to enroll form, which shows the university that they will start in the fall.

The MS in Accounting program assigns students points based on their test scores and GPAs and only admits those who score 1050 or higher on that index. Students must submit their college transcripts, a GMAT, CPA or LSAT score, recommendation form waiver, two letters of recommendation and a resume to the College of Business Administration Graduate Advising Center. They will then submit the CSU Graduate School application online and pay the $55 application fee. The Office of Graduate Studies also asks for a copy of the student’s transcript.

Prospective MBA students must submit their transcripts to show Sac State that they took all required prerequisites. They will send their transcripts, a resume, two letters of recommendation and a GRE score to the College of Business Administration Graduate Advising Center. Before they send in that information, they can apply online via the CSU Graduate School application, pay the application fee and send the school a copy of their transcripts.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Undergrads taking up to six credits at CSUS pay $2,478 per credit hour. Once they enroll as full-time students, the cost rises to $3,684 per credit hour. Students who are not from California pay an additional fee of $396 per credit hour. None of these figures include the room and board costs that students pay to live on-campus. In both the MS and MBA programs, graduate students pay $4,401 per credit hour. The university also charges an additional $270 per credit hour fee for students in a business program.

CSUS offers financial aid for students who have a FAFSA on file. This helps them qualify for the scholarships and grants that the university offers based on their overall merit and need as well as the programs offered by the federal government and the state of California. Graduate students may qualify for a research, teaching or graduate assistant position through the business department and get loans too. Sacramento State University has special scholarships available for students in the finance and accounting degree programs too.