University of Washington Master of Science in Taxation in 2027

The Master of Science in Taxation at the University of Washington packs 51 quarter credits into nine months of daytime, in-person classes in Seattle, with real client work at a campus tax site and a cohort that meets recruiters from top firms.

The Master of Science in Taxation (MST) is run by the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington, a public university in Seattle. You study full time for three quarters and take 14 classes alongside a structured cohort. The school calls it the oldest tax-specific accounting master's program in the Pacific Northwest.

The curriculum blends applied casework, professional research platforms and client-facing service, so you've got work you can describe in an interview by the time you finish. The program's faculty director spent time as a tax partner at PwC in Seattle before joining the university. Admission is for fall quarter only, and the school expects you to arrive with an undergraduate accounting background or equivalent preparation.

You don't need work experience to apply.

The MST is designed to support Certified Public Accountant (CPA) preparation with advanced technical knowledge in taxation, and the school describes its students as including people pursuing CPA licensure with a tax emphasis. Careers named by the school include Tax Associate, Corporate Tax Analyst, International Tax Associate, State and Local Tax (SALT) Associate and Tax Provision Analyst.

The school reports that 94% of 2025 students received job offers before graduation, and says that in recent years 100% of students received offers before graduation. The school's program page cites Accounting.com's recognition of its Master of Taxation program.

Business Degree Central's 2023 analysis singled out University of Washington Seattle for master's taxation students in Washington, and Course Advisor called it the most popular school in the state that year. The school describes an extensive and supportive alumni network that backs you up after graduation.

Where this degree can lead: Masters in Taxation Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Recent accounting graduates: the nine-month schedule gets you into the workforce quickly, and an alumna on a school blog chose it for that reason.
• Washington CPA candidates: the school says the curriculum satisfies the additional credits required to sit for the CPA exam in the state of Washington.
• People who learn by doing: you volunteer at the on-campus tax site in winter quarter and defend a client's real tax position in a mock Internal Revenue Service (IRS) appeals conference.
• Career changers without an accounting degree: the school points to the Certificate in Accounting through University of Washington Professional and Continuing Education to meet the prerequisites.
• Students who want to be hired in Seattle: the school says you meet directly with recruiters from top firms, and it adds individualized career coaching.

Fourteen required classes cover the full range of tax work, and the school groups them into four capability areas: Corporate and Entity Taxation, Tax Research and Compliance, State and International Tax, and Tax Accounting and Leadership.

Tax Issues in Property digs into gain and loss, with statutory and case law on buying, owning and selling assets, and Timing and Periods of Taxation works through when income and deductions are recognized under the cash and accrual methods. Fundamentals of Corporate Taxation and Advanced Issues in Corporate Taxation take you from contributing assets to corporate reorganizations.

Income Taxation of Conduits I and II cover partnerships and S corporations, and the second course relies on case studies. Tax Research and Decision Making teaches you to research on Bloomberg Tax and Checkpoint and write case briefs and internal memos. Your final project in Procedural and Policy Issues is a mock IRS appeals conference.

State and Local Tax Issues covers nexus, apportionment and sourcing, and International and State Tax Issues covers the foreign tax credit, permanent establishments and treaties. Tax Provisions explains how corporate income taxes appear on public financial statements. Speaker Forum-Tax brings in practicing professionals to talk about stock options, the research and development credit and audit issues.

Courses the School Names

• Tax Research and Decision Making (Bloomberg Tax and Checkpoint)
• Procedural and Policy Issues (mock IRS appeals conference)
• Ethics and Communications for Taxation Professionals (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) volunteering)
• State and Local Tax Issues
• International and State Tax Issues
• Tax Provisions
• Speaker Forum-Tax

Standout Features

• 94% of 2025 students received job offers before graduation; $81K average starting salary
• Applied casework, professional research platforms and client-facing service experiences
• Program Faculty Director was a Tax Partner at PwC in Seattle
• Ranked the number one Master of Taxation program in the US by Accounting.com

You complete 51 quarter credits in nine months of full-time study, spread over three quarters and 14 classes. Everyone starts in fall quarter, and the application deadline for the fall cohort is February 15. Classes meet during the day, Monday through Thursday, and you'll move through the year with the same cohort.

Winter quarter includes your volunteer work at the VITA site, and the volunteer work wraps up in the first weeks of spring before you return to the classroom to focus on professional communication.

The University of Washington reports a graduate charge of $1,510 per credit to federal data, a figure you can use as a starting point across the 51 quarter credits. As a public university, the school bills by residency, and a prospective student posting on Reddit in 2019 described the MST as pretty cheap for non-residents.

What you get for that year is broad: individualized career coaching and recruiting support, direct meetings with recruiters from top firms, and a winter quarter of hands-on client work at the campus tax site.

This program is taught in person on the Seattle campus. The school lists the schedule as daytime weekday classes, and a program directory describes them as running Monday through Thursday. You move through the program as part of a structured cohort, so you take the same classes with the same classmates for three quarters.

If you're after a full-time, immersive year with instructors and peers beside you, that's the setup. Two hands-on pieces take you past lectures: you serve real tax clients at the VITA site on campus, and you defend a client's real tax position in front of a mock appeals panel.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

An alumna quoted on the program page calls it one of the most reputable and competitive public tax programs in the nation. A 2020 graduate profiled by the Foster School in 2025 said the program introduced her to a wide variety of tax disciplines and taught skills specific to the tax industry.

She picked it partly because it was shorter than a traditional two-year master's, which meant she could enter the workforce quickly, and she reports steady demand for tax accountants in both public accounting and industry.

On Reddit in 2015, a commenter noted that because Foster is close to the firms, they are on campus quite often for events, and a Foster graduate in the same thread estimated that greater than 70-75% of the school's accounting graduates went to a Big Four firm or Moss Adams.

• Which of the four capability areas do my first-quarter classes sit in, and how are the cohorts organized?
• How many hours a week should I plan for the winter quarter VITA site, and which clients do students serve?
• What does the mock IRS appeals conference involve, and how do students prepare for it?
• Which employers recruited the most recent cohort, and when does recruiting begin in the fall?
• If I don't have an accounting degree, how long does the Certificate in Accounting take before I can apply by February 15?

• Best Master's in Taxation Rank 32 of 78, master's
• On-Campus Master's in Taxation Rank 16 of 37, master's
• Accelerated Programs Rank 2 of 33, master's
• Public University Programs Rank 15 of 35, master's
• Master of Science in Taxation Rank 10 of 21, master's
• Accounting and Taxation Rank 1 of 13, master's
• International Taxation Rank 9 of 12, master's

• Tax Law LL.M.

  LL.M., Master's

  On Campus Score 68.4

• Boston University

  LLM in Taxation

  Massachusetts Score 57.2

• Georgetown University

  Master of Studies in Law in Taxation

  District of Columbia Score 57.3

• Northwestern University

  Taxation

  Illinois Score 57.5

• New York University

  Taxation

  New York Score 56.5