Grand Valley State University Master of Science in Taxation in 2027

Grand Valley State University's 33-credit Master of Science in Taxation can be finished entirely from a distance, with classes scheduled around tax busy season and every course counting toward continuing education hours.

Grand Valley State University offers this degree through its Seidman College of Business, based in Allendale, Michigan. The program is fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International.

It's built for people who already work in tax or accounting: you can attend part time or full time, courses avoid the stretch from February 20 to April 30, and an assigned faculty advisor helps you choose electives that match your goals. The school says the curriculum is taught by experts who stay current in their field, and the coursework leans on realistic tax situations.

You'll finish with 18 required credits of core tax training and 15 credits that you shape yourself, topped off by a capstone-style course that pulls everything together.

Tuition is $863 per credit hour, based on the 2024-25 rate. That's $28,479 for the full program. Books and supplies are estimated at $3,500. If your employer reimburses tuition, a company deferment plan lets you pay 30 days after the semester ends, with a signed promissory note and a $40 service fee.

The school also points out that each three-credit course counts as 45 continuing professional education (CPE) hours, at about $50 per CPE hour, which it compares with an industry average of over $100 per hour. For a working professional who already needs those hours each year, the degree can double as continuing education.

33 credits at $863 a credit comes to $28,479 in tuition, before fees.

Who It Fits

• Working tax and accounting professionals: the schedule steers around tax busy season from February 20 to April 30, so your heaviest work weeks stay clear.
• Anyone studying from a distance: classes are offered in asynchronous online or synchronous formats, so the entire program can be completed away from campus.
• Professionals who need continuing education: each three-credit course counts as 45 hours of CPE.
• People testing the waters: four stackable graduate tax badges let you start with a short sequence, and every course in a badge can apply to the degree later.
• Professionals still deciding on a path: an individualized plan at admission lets an advisor match your electives to your career goals.

Six courses are required. Tax Research and Writing teaches the tools and techniques of tax research and the written communications common to tax practice, grounded in practical compliance and planning situations. Corporate Tax I analyzes the taxation of corporations and shareholders, including formation, capital structure, dividends, stock redemptions and subchapter S corporations.

Estate, Gift, and Trust I examines the federal transfer tax system, from the definition of a gift and the annual exclusion to the marital deduction and valuation. Partnership Taxation covers formation, operation, liquidation, basis calculations and limited liability companies. Ethics for Accountants looks at stakeholder expectations, corporate governance and codes of conduct. Taxation Problems, Planning, and Current Issues is the last course before graduation.

In it you'll research and defend your solutions to various taxation controversies, using what you learned in the earlier courses.

For your 15 elective credits, options include Corporate Tax II, with liquidations, mergers and corporate divisions, Multistate Taxation, which covers the constitutional framework and Michigan taxes, Tax Accounting, and Federal Tax Practice and Procedure, which surveys Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits, appeals and enforcement along with the requirements for practicing before the agency.

At admission you receive an individualized plan, and your advisor helps you pick electives that fit your career.

Courses the School Names

• Tax Research and Writing
• Corporate Tax I and II
• Estate, Gift, and Trust I
• Partnership Taxation
• Multistate Taxation
• Tax Accounting
• Federal Tax Practice and Procedure
• Taxation Problems, Planning, and Current Issues

Standout Features

• Classes scheduled to avoid tax busy season, February 20 to April 30
• Each 3-credit course counts as 45 CPE hours
• Stackable graduate tax badges (Foundations of Tax Practice, Corporate Transactions, Wealth Planning, Advanced Tax Practice) count toward the MST

The program is 33 credits and you can earn it part time or full time. Face-to-face courses are primarily held in the evenings, and they let you join synchronously online. Some courses are asynchronous online. Classes are scheduled to avoid tax busy season, February 20 to April 30. If you take the badge route, you complete three graduate tax badges first.

Then you need only two more courses, Ethics for Accountants and the capstone, to finish the degree. The Foundations of Tax Practice badge covers research, corporate tax, estates and gifts, and partnerships. The Corporate Transactions badge adds Corporate Tax II, Multistate Taxation and International Taxation. The Advanced Tax Practice badge adds employee benefit plans, tax accounting, and federal tax practice and procedure.

A Wealth Planning badge covers fiduciary income tax and advanced estate and gift.

You can complete the whole degree online. The school offers classes in asynchronous online formats and in synchronous formats that run face to face and online at the same time. Evening face-to-face sections let you decide whether to sit in the room or join live from home, and some courses are fully asynchronous so you work on your own time.

The calendar is built around the tax profession, with no required coursework in the February 20 to April 30 busy season. Instructors teach realistic tax fact situations, and the capstone has you research and defend your answers to tax controversies, which gives online students the same case-driven finish as anyone on campus.

The master's is fully accredited by AACSB International. The coursework builds the skills a tax career asks for: research and writing, corporate and partnership taxation, transfer taxes, state and multistate issues, and practice before the IRS. Because each three-credit course counts as 45 CPE hours, it's a program that fits the continuing education tax professionals and Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) keep up through their careers.

Where this degree can lead: Masters in Taxation Jobs.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

• Which electives will run as asynchronous online and which as live sessions in the terms you plan to enroll?
• Does your employer reimburse tuition, and how would the company deferment plan work with your pay schedule?
• Would starting with a graduate tax badge make sense before you commit to the full 33 credits?
• What would your individualized program plan look like given your previous coursework?
• Which electives would best build the tax specialty you want to be known for?

• Best Master's in Taxation Rank 58 of 78, master's
• Online Master's in Taxation Rank 32 of 41, master's
• Cheapest Programs Rank 11 of 15, master's
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• No-GRE Programs Rank 11 of 17, master's
• Public University Programs Rank 28 of 35, master's
• Master of Science in Taxation Rank 15 of 21, master's

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