Degree Requirements
Both the College of Business and the Department of Accounting have course Requirements for the PhD degree that, in total, form a student's program of study. These requirements are summarized below (credit hours are based on the semester system).
For additional information on degree requirements, see Eli Broad Graduate School of Management and Graduate Education.
- A student must maintain at least a 3.25 GPA on all coursework by the end of the second semester of full-time enrollment and thereafter to remain in the program.
- The major field of study is accounting. The major in accounting consists of:
ACC 912 Financial Accounting (3 credits)
Theories of asset valuation, income measurement, and contracting. Research methods for the information content of accounting data, accounting method choice, earnings management, and external monitoring which includes audit and regulation effects.ACC 913 Managerial Accounting (3 credits)
Theories of cost measurement, relevant costs for decision making, demand for internal monitoring, and planning and control. Research methods for cost accounting, cost allocation, budgeting, performance measurement, and transfer pricing.ACC 914 Research Topics in Accounting (1 credit plus 3 credits, for a total of 4 credits)
Participation in the department workshop series, including presentations of research papers and critiques of presented papers. Directed readings and written critiques of readings. Student research papers.ACC 915 Theories and Research Methods in Accounting ( (3 credits, a student may earn a maximum of 6 credits in all enrollments for this course.) Analysis of accounting research that uses economic, psychological, and organizational theories and research methods. ACC 916 Accounting Research Project (3 credits) Completion of research project and paper under the direction of faculty. MGT 906 Seminar in Research Methods (3 credits) Methods for scientific research in the areas of organizational behavior, personnel and organizational theory. Theory building, hypothesis formation and testing, reliability theory, construct validity, external validity, research design.
- Each student has a minor field of study. The minor is a minimum of 9 hours of course work. The minor is intended to provide theoretical framework, perspective, and content as a basis to conduct research in accounting. Examples of minors are economics (micro), finance, organizational behavior and psychology.
- A student must know and be able to apply certain concepts, tools, and techniques of business practice. A student who enters the doctoral program without having earned a business degree from an institution accredited by the Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) must develop a broad understanding of the functional areas of business and management by completing coursework in each of these areas: Accounting, Finance, Management, Supply Chain Management, and Marketing. A student can petition the Accounting Doctoral Committee for exemption from this requirement based on coursework taken as a part of a business or management degree that is not accredited by the AACSB.
- A student must have a minimum familiarity with certain concepts and methods of accounting practice. This requirement is automatically fulfilled by students who enter the doctoral program with a degree in accounting from an AACSB accredited accounting program. Alternatively, this requirement can be met by taking certain accounting courses at MSU or another institution with an accredited program. The required accounting courses are ACC 300 and 301 or 805 and 807, 321, 331 or 833, 341 or 841, and 411.
- A student must take EC811a, EC812a, and EC812b
- Competence in research related areas is required. This requirement may be satisfied by completing a minimum of 12 credits in research related areas with a four course minimum. This phrase "research related areas" suggests that care be used to select course work that is expected to be relevant to the student's research. Courses must be at the 400-level or above to assure graduate level competence in the areas studied. Research-related credits earned to meet the requirements of a degree other than the Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration will not be accepted in fulfillment of the research-related requirement. These courses typically are research-method and statistics courses offered in the departments of economics, marketing and supply chain, psychology and statistics.
- Upon successful completion of all of the courses in the program of study, a student may take the comprehensive examination in accounting. This examination is given in August and has three parts:
Parts 1 and 2: Financial accounting and managerial accounting Part 3: Critique of a working paper in the student's area of research interest.
The purpose of this examination is to test a student's knowledge of the scholarly accounting literature, with particular emphasis on historical and contemporary issues, theories, and research methods. In addition to assessing a student's knowledge, the examination tests a student's ability to design, evaluate, and communicate scholarly research.