Rutgers revamps MBA in Professional Accounting to provide faster, enhanced path to accounting careers

Changes to one of Rutgers Business School's long-standing graduate programs include a reduction in credits and greater flexibility while still ensuring that students meet the education requirements to sit for the CPA exam in New Jersey.

NEWARK, N.J., March 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Rutgers Business School has revamped its graduate degree in professional accounting to equip students with the skills demanded by an industry that continues to be transformed by technology.

The venerable Rutgers MBA in Professional Accounting is still designed to prepare college graduates who studied the arts, science or business for promising careers in accounting. And with the number of credits reduced to 49 from 66, the program is more affordable and more flexible, with full-time or part-time options.

Students who complete the MBA in Professional Accounting Program will have sufficient credits to meet the education requirements for taking the CPA exam in New Jersey.

"The revised program delivers the same rigorous preparation for the accounting profession and the CPA exam while saving students both time and cost," said Professor Alexander Sannella, the program director.

Want to learn more? Come to Rutgers Business School's spring Graduate Open House on Saturday, March 28, in Newark from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or attend a one-hour, online information session on Wednesday, April 8 at noon.

An enduring program at New Jersey's flagship business school

The MBA in Professional Accounting has a long-standing reputation for combining robust course work from the Rutgers MBA with curriculum from Rutgers Business School's highly respected accounting department to equip students for jobs in public accounting, private industry, consulting and non-profits.

The program also has a robust roster of successful alumni that includes Kevin Kelleher, chief operating officer at Sony Music, and Paul McDonald, retired executive vice president and chief financial officer of Friendly's Ice Cream

Updates to the program reflect the changes occurring in the accounting field. Courses like, Emerging Technologies in Accounting and Auditing, and Advanced Cost Accounting and Analytics, teach students the skills to apply emerging technologies and to understand the importance of analytics.

One of the program's changes also allows students to dovetail their MBA in Professional Accounting with a second graduate degree – a Master of Accountancy in Accounting and Analytics. By applying a maximum of 12 credits of advanced standing coursework from the MBA in Professional Accounting, students are able to pursue the second master's degree, which makes them eligible to sit for the CPA exam in New York.

A pending STEM designation combined with other enhancements represent an evolution in the nearly 70-year-old MBA in Professional Accounting.

"By modernizing the curriculum, adding flexible class scheduling options, and creating a pathway to a second master's degree in accounting and analytics," Professor Sannella explained, "the program is now more aligned with the needs of today's students."

Rutgers Business School's accounting program is one of the most prestigious in the world, known for faculty research that has advanced the field of accounting and auditing, including pioneering work to modernize accounting and auditing with emerging technologies such as AI and data mining.

The MBA in Professional Accounting is a long-standing graduate program at Rutgers Business School. Started in 1954. The program has produced nearly seven decades of graduates who have taken jobs at large and small accounting firms and helped to operate such well-known companies as Sony Music and Friendly's Ice Cream. Rutgers Business School, which has campuses in Newark and New Brunswick, is part of Rutgers University and New Jersey's flagship business school.

SOURCE Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick