California State University-Northridge Master of Science in Taxation in 2027

The Master of Science in Taxation at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) is a hybrid cohort program in the Los Angeles area that takes 1.5 years, pauses for the busy tax seasons, and puts you in a tax clinic or on a project before you graduate.

You enter the Master of Science in Taxation at CSUN with a cohort of no more than 50 students and finish it together in 1.5 years. The program is 30 credits, taught primarily by working tax practitioners, and no classes are scheduled during the busy tax seasons.

Enrollment in all courses is guaranteed within the cohort, so you don't compete for a seat in a required class. You attend live sessions in person or by video, and you can switch between the two as your schedule demands. It's a public university program, it's accredited by AACSB, and you don't need the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) to apply.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

If you're planning to get licensed, this fully accredited program meets California's 150-hour requirement for CPA licensure. The faculty list includes practitioners such as a partner at Holland & Knight with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) and a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a senior counsel at Buchalter with an LL.M. in Taxation, and a CPA who is a managing director at a tax and business management firm.

The careers the school lists for graduates include transfer pricing analyst, manager and consultant roles. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Clinic served more than 8,500 low-income taxpayers in 2023, with more than 300 student volunteers trained to handle federal and state returns. Program supporters include Deloitte and the Tax Executives Institute.

Where this degree can lead: Masters in Taxation Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Working professionals: the HyFlex format lets you join live classes in person or through video-conferencing, and the schedule skips the busy tax seasons.
• Tax preparers who want hands-on credit: the culminating experience can be the Tax Challenge Project or one of the school's tax clinics, including the VITA Clinic.
• California CPA candidates: the fully accredited program meets California's 150-hour requirement for CPA licensure.
• People who like a fixed group: the cohort stays together from start to finish and course enrollment is guaranteed.
• Students looking for aid: partial tuition scholarships exist, and a Financial Empowerment Fellowship offers up to $9,000 to up to ten students.

Your 30 credits break down like this. There are 3 credits of core skills and 15 credits of core knowledge. Then you take 9 credits in a field of specialization, a 2-credit tax planning seminar and a 1-credit culminating experience. Later courses build on earlier ones, so what you learn is cumulative.

You start with Tax Ethics, Research and Communication, where you learn to research and interpret tax authority and build the oral and written skills needed with clients and government agencies. Income Tax Concepts and Their Business Applications covers tax alternatives in business organizations and compliance.

The core continues with Income Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders I, Income Taxation of Partnerships, Accounting Methods and Periods, and Federal Tax Procedure, which explores settling tax controversies and the rights of taxpayers. For your specialization you can choose from courses such as Income Taxation of Estates and Trusts, Taxation of Foreign Transactions and Taxpayers, Real Estate Taxation, State and Local Taxes, and Selected Topics in Taxation.

The required seminar, Contemporary Tax Planning Issues, focuses on issues affecting local industries. To finish, ACCT 697TX Directed Comprehensive Studies in Taxation lets you demonstrate competency through practice-based simulations or experiential learning, with options including the Tax Challenge Project, the Bookstein Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, the CSUN VITA Clinic and the Bookstein Community Outreach Tax Clinic.

Standout Features

• Courses are taught primarily by leading tax practitioners
• Enrollment in all courses is guaranteed within the cohort
• Financial Empowerment Fellowship of up to $9,000 for students who train at the VITA Clinic
• Schedule has no classes during the busy tax seasons
• Tax Challenge Project, CSUN VITA Clinic, Bookstein Low Income Taxpayer Clinic and student-run Tax Development Journal give hands-on practice

The program takes 1.5 years. It runs as a cohort of up to 50 students who start together, and the schedule leaves out the busy tax seasons so your own work calendar isn't squeezed. There is one start each year.

The school's fall 2027 intake closes with a final application deadline of July 6, 2027. Because the courses are integrated, waiver and transfer of courses aren't permitted, and that keeps you and everyone in the cohort on the same path.

For fall 2027, tuition is $895 per credit, and total tuition to degree is $26,850. The school notes that tuition is subject to change, varies by cohort and is paid in 5 payments. You'll also pay a university application fee of $70 and a graduation application fee of $47.

The federal College Scorecard reports $108,576 as the median pay of CSUN taxation master's graduates, a useful figure to hold up against the tuition you'd pay. On the aid side, the college offers partial tuition scholarships and a Financial Empowerment Fellowship of up to $9,000 for up to ten CSUN M.S. in Taxation students who qualify.

Fellows also receive extensive, in-person tax preparation training at the VITA Clinic.

30 credits at $895 a credit comes to $26,850 in tuition, before fees.

The program is hybrid. It uses the HyFlex model, so you join live classes in person or through video-conferencing technology, and you can switch between attending in person and joining by video as your schedule demands. Class sessions follow a cohort format, and there's no class scheduled during the busy tax seasons.

The college's EY Center for Careers provides personalized career services you can use as a student in the program. Practice happens outside the classroom too, through the Tax Challenge Project, the CSUN VITA Clinic, the Bookstein Low Income Taxpayer Clinic and a student-run Tax Development Journal.

People who've taken the program speak well of it. An alumnus posting on Reddit in 2023, who already held a CPA license, said the master's made a pivot from audit to tax possible. Another alumnus posting in 2024 chose CSUN because it was slightly cheaper and had an easier schedule for a working adult. A commenter in the same 2024 thread named CSUN as a program designed for working professionals.

Alumni quoted by the school say the cohort system is very powerful because the same students stay together from start to finish, that the program structures the course load around the busy seasons, and that they learned tax research at a more sophisticated level. The university's own news coverage adds that in 2021 its VITA Clinic ranked as the largest free tax preparation clinic in California.

• How do I decide each week whether to attend in person or by video, and does the choice affect group projects?
• Which culminating option fits my goals best: the Tax Challenge Project, a tax clinic or the community outreach clinic?
• How do I apply for the Financial Empowerment Fellowship, and what does the VITA Clinic training involve?
• Which specialization courses will my cohort be able to take, and who makes that choice?
• How are the 5 tuition payments scheduled across the 1.5 years?

• Best Master's in Taxation Rank 7 of 78, master's
• On-Campus Master's in Taxation Rank 4 of 37, master's
• Cheapest Programs Rank 12 of 15, master's
• No-GRE Programs Rank 2 of 17, master's
• Public University Programs Rank 6 of 35, master's
• AACSB Accredited Programs Rank 3 of 16, master's
• Master of Science in Taxation Rank 2 of 21, master's
• Best Programs in California Rank 2 of 12, master's

• Gonzaga University

  Master of Science in Taxation

  Washington Score 68.7

• University of Washington

  Tax Law LL.M.

  Washington Score 68.4

• Portland State University

  Master of Taxation

  Oregon Score 69.2

• Villanova University

  Master of Laws in Taxation

  Pennsylvania $1,675 per credit Score 69.2