University of Baltimore Master of Science in Taxation in 2027

Since 1987, the University of Baltimore School of Law has run the only graduate tax program of its kind in Maryland, and its Master of Science in Taxation puts you in weekday evening classes with practitioners, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials and U.S. Tax Court judges. Tuition is a flat $1,125 per credit.

You learn tax in a law school classroom, next to accountants and attorneys, and you don't need a law degree to do it. The Master of Science (MS) in Taxation is 30 credits built on six required courses that run from income tax fundamentals through corporate, partnership and procedure topics, plus 12 credits of electives you choose from a long list.

Classes meet on weekday evenings, so the schedule suits people who work during the day. The program has graduated more than 500 students from its Master of Laws (LLM) and MS tracks combined, and the faculty mix full-time law professors with working tax lawyers.

The MS in Taxation, when combined with required accounting and business courses, may fulfill the 150-hour education requirement for a CPA license in Maryland. It's built on a law school foundation and designed for people in accounting, finance, government, compliance and business. You develop the skill to communicate your tax research and analysis, in writing and out loud, to clients, co-workers and the wider community of tax professionals.

Faculty include full-time School of Law professors, prominent practitioners in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area, Internal Revenue Service officials, local government officials and U.S. Tax Court judges. Adjunct faculty also include attorneys from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel and former leaders of the Department of Justice Tax Division. The program director has been with the program since 1990 and has trained generations of tax lawyers across the country.

Where this degree can lead: Masters in Taxation Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Accountants who want to go deeper in tax: the program is designed for professionals in accounting, finance, government, compliance and business who want graduate-level tax training.
• Working professionals: classes are offered on weekday evenings, and you can attend in real time, attend in person when a class meets in person, or watch recordings.
• Aspiring CPAs in Maryland: the degree, combined with required accounting and business courses, may fulfill the 150-hour education requirement for a Maryland CPA license.
• Students who want to learn alongside attorneys: the school describes the program as an integrated learning opportunity where attorneys and accountants study side by side.
• Applicants who want a simple application: admission needs a bachelor's degree and official transcripts, and you can send a letter of recommendation and personal statement, but they aren't required.

You start from a base of six required three-credit courses. Fundamentals of Federal Income Taxation I covers gross income, exclusions, deductions, credits and depreciation. Fundamentals of Federal Income Taxation II continues with cash and accrual methods, capital gains and losses, like-kind exchanges, installment sales and the passive loss rules. Corporate Taxation looks at corporations and their shareholders, including formation, distributions and liquidations, with S-corporations included.

Partnership Taxation walks through forming, operating and liquidating a partnership and the treatment of distributions. Tax Practice and Procedure covers practice before the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Tax Court, including audits, penalties, refund claims and appeals conferences. Tax Research and Writing has you prepare legal memoranda and learn research techniques. You'll then pick 12 elective credits.

Options include Foreign Taxation, Corporate Reorganizations, Estate Planning, State and Local Tax, Maryland Taxes, Executive Compensation, Tax Exempt Organizations, and Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Tax Crimes, which follows the life cycle of a criminal tax case and draws on current cases from the headlines. The school recommends taking Tax Research and Writing and Fundamentals of Federal Income Taxation II early in your studies.

Standout Features

• Accountants and attorneys learn together; faculty include practitioners, IRS officials and US Tax Court judges
• Graduate Tax Program since 1987, the only one of its kind in Maryland
• Taught by full-time law faculty, practitioners, IRS officials and US Tax Court judges

The degree is 30 credits. If you take two classes per semester, you can finish in two to three academic years. You can start in the fall, the spring or the summer session, and the application deadlines are August 1 for fall, December 1 for spring and May 1 for summer.

Admission is on a rolling basis. Foundation coursework of 0 to 9 credits applies if you need to meet accounting undergraduate equivalency, and up to 9 of those credits can be waived based on your education or work experience. You'll complete all requirements within five years of enrolling, with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better.

Tuition for the MS in Taxation is a flat $1,125 per credit, with no difference between in-state and out-of-state students, so you pay the same rate wherever you live. Across 30 credits, that comes to $33,750 in tuition. Fees are charged per credit as well.

The school's fee table shows a typical semester of two classes, or 6 credits. That comes to $6,750 in tuition plus $649 in fees, for $7,399 in all. If you plan to use federal financial aid, take at least 6 credits a semester during the academic year, and that's the load the school sets for aid eligibility.

The school describes the tuition as consistently affordable.

30 credits at $1,125 a credit comes to $33,750 in tuition, before fees.

It's a hybrid program, so you choose how you attend. Classes are offered on weekday evenings. You can attend in real time over the internet, attend in person when a class is taught in person, or view recordings of classes.

Some classes may be offered in person as well as in real time, and recordings are available for the sessions you can't make live. That mix lets you keep a day job and still take the classes.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

Alumni quoted by the school describe a program that's practical and well taught. One alumnus calls the Graduate Tax Program rich in high-level content, comprehensive in scope and practical in its discussion of tax theory and compliance. Another says they gained technical knowledge from tax attorneys and practitioners and built long-lasting relationships with professors and student colleagues.

A third says the program gave them the skills to understand the issues, research the options and provide effective counsel to clients on most tax matters that arise. The Law School Admission Council's profile of the school notes that the Graduate Tax Program has graduated more than 500 LLM and MS students since it began.

• Which foundation courses will I need based on my accounting background, and which can be waived?
• Which electives will be taught in the semesters I plan to enroll, and how are they scheduled?
• How does the program fit with the Maryland CPA education requirements, and which accounting and business courses would I still need?
• For classes that meet in person, how many sessions in a semester are likely to be held in person, and how do recordings work if I miss one?
• What do alumni with my background do after they finish?

• Best Master's in Taxation Rank 35 of 78, master's
• On-Campus Master's in Taxation Rank 18 of 37, master's
• Public University Programs Rank 16 of 35, master's
• Master of Science in Taxation Rank 11 of 21, master's

• Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation

  LL.M., Master's

  Hybrid $1,125 per credit Score 64.1

• Master of Science in Accounting and Business Advisory Services, Taxation Specialization (Online)

  M.S., Master's

  Fully Online $1,258 per credit Score 22.7

• University of Denver

  LLM in Taxation

  Colorado Score 56.4

• New York University

  Taxation

  New York Score 56.5

• New York Law School

  LL.M. in Taxation

  New York $2,451 per credit Score 55.7

• University of Washington

  Master of Science in Taxation

  Washington Score 57.0