The University of Alabama Master of Tax Accounting in 2027

Alabama's Master of Tax Accounting (MTA) gives you 30 credits of corporate, partnership, state and local tax, including two courses in the School of Law. Admitted students are automatically considered for graduate assistantships, and recent graduates have landed at the Big Four and regional firms.

The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa has offered the MTA since 1977, and today the Culverhouse School of Accountancy runs it. The school says the program is designed to cover technical tax rules and build your research and communication skills.

Its curriculum reaches into specialty areas such as accounting for income taxes, state and local taxation, international taxation, and mergers, acquisitions and transaction services. You also use leading software and technology platforms along the way. Accounting courses are taught in the spring and fall, and because they're not offered in sequence, you can begin in spring, summer or fall.

Graduates have been placed at Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, along with Grant Thornton, RSM, BDO, Crowe and Mercedes-Benz U.S. International. The school says its MTA and Master of Accountancy programs have high placement rates, place students nationally and see students with high Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Exam pass rates.

Professional Certification is an approved elective that examines the accounting standards and procedures required for professional accounting certification, and the catalog points you to the program director to talk through elective options.

Where this degree can lead: Masters in Taxation Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Accounting graduates heading for public accounting: recent placements include Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the school hosts career fairs each semester.
• Students who want legal depth: two tax law courses are taken at The University of Alabama School of Law, with Tax Procedures and Federal Estate and Gift Tax among the electives.
• Applicants who have already passed the CPA exam: the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) requirement is waived for you.
• Strong accounting students looking for funding: every accepted applicant is automatically considered for a graduate assistantship, and applicants with a high grade point average (GPA) may be nominated for a university-wide fellowship.

Eight required courses build the core, and two electives complete the 30 hours. Accounting for Income Taxes prepares tax preparers and auditors to work out a company's income tax provision, deferred tax balances and footnote. Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders examines the federal income tax problems of corporations and how they connect to the shareholder, while Advanced Corporate Taxation turns to organizations, commonly controlled corporations and consolidated returns.

Partnership Taxation goes in depth on the formation, operation and disposition of partnerships and limited liability companies, with a brief review of S corporations.

State and Local Taxation looks at the key considerations for individual taxpayers, partnerships and corporations after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Supreme Court's Wayfair decision, and it asks you to gather facts, find the law, analyze and present findings both orally and in writing.

Research and Communication in Taxation covers research procedures, documentation and presentation of findings. Advanced Financial Reporting and Analysis and Fraud and Ethics Risk Management round out the core, and an advisor can waive either one when you've completed an equivalent course.

For your two electives you pick from Professional Certification, Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting, Special Topics in Accounting, and the two School of Law courses, Tax Procedures and Federal Estate and Gift Tax.

Courses the School Names

• AC 568 Accounting for Income Taxes
• AC 578 Partnership Taxation
• AC 582 State And Local Taxation
• AC 593 Res & Communicatn Taxation

Standout Features

• Recent placements include Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Students take 2 tax law courses at The University of Alabama School of Law

The degree requires a minimum of 30 hours of approved coursework beyond your undergraduate degree. Three start terms are available each year, spring, summer and fall, and the school reviews applications as they come in, so there's no fixed application deadline to plan around.

Accounting courses are taught in the spring and fall and aren't taught in sequence, which means you can start at any point in the academic year and pick up the core in the order the schedule allows.

You should arrive with 24 hours of undergraduate accounting, from intermediate financial accounting through auditing and two tax courses, and with program director approval you may be able to finish missing prerequisites in the summer term before graduate work begins. To receive the degree you complete the required core courses with an average grade of B or better.

Start your budget at $1,710 per credit. That's the graduate charge The University of Alabama files in federal education data. The Culverhouse School of Accountancy then works to offset it. Scholarships and assistantships go to eligible students in the MTA and the Master of Accountancy programs based on merit or need, and cash scholarships come from the school's alumni.

Every accepted applicant is automatically considered for a graduate assistantship, and applicants with a high GPA may be nominated for a university-wide fellowship that covers tuition and pays a stipend.

It's a campus program centered in Tuscaloosa, with accounting courses taught in the spring and fall. Because courses aren't offered in sequence, your calendar stays flexible from the first term, and you can enroll in spring, summer or fall.

Class time is complemented by the exposure the school builds in: career fairs each semester put you in front of public accounting firms, corporate accounting departments, finance employers, government and non-profit organizations. The program also builds in time on leading software and technology platforms to deepen what you learn in class.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

Outside rankers have noticed Alabama's tax and accounting programs. CourseAdvisor's 2023 rankings put The University of Alabama ahead of every other school in the state for taxation students working on a master's degree.

A 2021 Yellowhammer News report on the 2022 edition of U.S. News & World Report's undergraduate business rankings said the Culverhouse College of Business placed 30th among public institutions, and that its undergraduate accounting program placed 59th among all public and private institutions in the country.

Closer to home, the school points to its career fairs, held every semester, as the place where students network with professionals in public accounting, corporate accounting, finance, government and non-profit organizations.

• Which two School of Law tax courses are offered in the term I plan to start, and how do they fit with my accounting core?
• How are graduate assistantships assigned, and what do they cover for an MTA student?
• If I begin in summer, which core courses can I take first?
• Could my earlier coursework waive Advanced Financial Reporting and Analysis or Fraud and Ethics Risk Management?
• Which firms recruit MTA students at the career fairs, and what do students typically do in their first year?

• Best Master's in Taxation Rank 62 of 78, master's
• On-Campus Master's in Taxation Rank 28 of 37, master's
• No-GRE Programs Rank 14 of 17, master's
• Public University Programs Rank 30 of 35, master's
• Internship or Practicum Rank 22 of 24, master's
• Accounting and Taxation Rank 8 of 13, master's

• University of Denver

  Master of Taxation

  Colorado Score 45.0

• Hofstra University

  Taxation, MS

  New York Score 45.7

• Boston University

  Master in the Study of Tax Law

  Massachusetts Score 43.5

• Florida Atlantic University

  Executive Master of Taxation (EMTAX)

  Florida $900 per credit Score 46.2