The Five Year Master's Degree in Accounting and Finance

The Master of Science in Financial Analysis (MSFA) degree at PSU is a decade-old program.  The fifth year option offers qualified PSU business undergraduate students the opportunity to complete both a bachelor degree and master degree in accounting and finance in five years.  For a smooth transition from the undergraduate business program, students should meet with their undergraduate advisor and a graduate advisor to make a plan ensuring that all MSFA prerequisites are fulfilled by graduation.

The accounting and finance programs at Portland State University are well recognized for the outstanding caliber of its faculty, students and curriculum.  In addition, graduates of the MSFA program regularly achieve high pass rates on the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) exam and have some of the highest pass rates for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam.  Our MSFA alumni are also heavily recruited.

The MSFA program equips finance and accounting professionals with the analytic and forward thinking skills needed for leadership in today's business environment.  You will learn to leverage technical skills through effective communication, and apply ethical frameworks to the decision-making process.  This program prepares graduates for careers in public accounting, investment management or corporate financial management.

Benefits of the fifth year option

While completing this graduate degree, students also earn enough credits to sit for the CPA exam in the spring of their fifth year if they have completed 225 credits by the end of winter term.

Students can utilize undergraduate business core and elective courses to meet MSFA prerequisite admission criteria.

Undergraduate PSU SBA business students should meet with their undergraduate program advisor and may have BA 495 waived.  This does not waive 4 credits towards the 82 required for the undergraduate degree.

In the senior year, PSU SBA students may begin graduate level coursework while simultaneously completing the final requirements for the bachelor degree in accounting or finance.  Students may take up to a maximum of 12 graduate credits before completion of the bachelor degree.  These credits may be applied to the MSFA degree once the undergraduate degree has been awarded.  Full time undergraduate students will pay undergraduate tuition for these graduate courses; part time undergraduate students will pay undergraduate tuition for undergraduate courses and graduate tuition for graduate courses.  Please note that these graduate credits cannot be applied to the undergraduate degree and all of these graduate courses must be graded B or higher.  Students must fill out a GO-10 Reservation of Graduate Credit form with the MSFA advisor before graduation from the undergraduate program.

If the criteria below is met, the GMAT may be waived for PSU SBA students only.

In the summer between the 4th and 5th year, students may study abroad for three weeks in the south of France, and earn 8 elective credits toward the MSFA degree.  

Criteria

You may be eligible for special consideration to take specific graduate classes at the end of your junior or senior year and/or to waive the GMAT if:

  • You are admitted to the PSU Undergraduate School of Business Administration.
  • You have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 in all PSU courses and all accounting and finance courses.  You must also maintain a 2.75 GPA from all coursework taken (including transfer credits).
  • You have earned a B- or better in the Intermediate Accounting series: Actg 381 and Actg 382 (and Actg 383 starting fall 2009) at PSU.
  • You submit a complete MSFA application by April 1st of your senior year (www.msfa.pdx.edu).

Interested students must meet with an MSFA advisor and have permission to take specific graduate coursework during their undergraduate program. 

This does not guarantee admission to the program which is based on a competitive application and available space.  However, by participating in this program, it does improve your chances for admission by ensuring that you have the prerequisites, a good gpa and that you turn in an application by April 1st.

Contact

Graduate Programs Advisor:  Pam Mitchell, 503-725-4733, pamm@sba.pdx.edu

Undergraduate Programs Advising:  503-725-3712, info@sba.pdx.edu