Walsh College Master of Science in Taxation in 2027

Walsh College's Master of Science in Taxation is a 30-credit degree with a long track record in Michigan, built around working tax professionals as teachers. You pick how you attend each term: online on your own time, live on Zoom, or in a classroom in Troy.

The Master of Science in Taxation (MST) was the first graduate degree Walsh College offered. It started in 1974, and it's graduated more than 1,300 tax professionals. Walsh is a private nonprofit school in Troy, Michigan, and the program is accredited by ACBSP. You earn the degree with 30 semester credit hours, and the core covers tax accounting, property sales, corporate and partnership taxation, practice and procedure, and research writing.

A Taxation Advisory Board includes tax professionals from Plante Moran and General Motors, and the school says its tax faculty keep updating and refining courses so the materials stay current. Walsh has offered remote learning since 1998, and it says its online programs use the same curriculum as its on-ground programs, so the way you attend doesn't change what you study.

The MST is accredited by ACBSP. Walsh says public accounting firms, consulting firms, financial institutions, law firms and corporations large and small hire MST graduates, and that its alumni work in nearly every Michigan-based Fortune 500 company. Graduates also get lifelong career services from Walsh. College Scorecard data puts the median earnings of Walsh graduates in this field and degree level at $118,221.

Where this degree can lead: Masters in Taxation Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Working accountants in Michigan: A Reddit commenter called Walsh well respected in Michigan, and the online and Zoom options let you keep your job while you study.
• People who want to prepare real returns: the partnership course has you prepare a Form 1065, and the electives include a tax return seminar.
• Staff headed toward corporate tax or public accounting: Walsh reports alumni in nearly every Michigan-based Fortune 500 company and at the large accounting firms.
• If you've already taken tax coursework, the two foundation courses can be waived based on earlier credits, which can shorten your path.
• Those who want estate or international work: electives cover Gifts, Estates and Trusts and International Taxation.

You'll start with two foundation courses, Taxation of Individuals and Taxation of Business Entities, unless earlier coursework lets you waive them. In Tax Accounting you study tax periods and methods, depreciation and cost recovery, and inventories including last in, first out (LIFO). Sales and Exchanges of Property covers capital gains and losses, like-kind exchanges, installment sales and the passive activity loss rules.

Corporate Taxation works through forming a corporation, distributions, liquidations and Subchapter S corporations, and Partnership and LLC Taxation has you prepare a Form 1065 for a partnership. Tax Practice, Procedure, and Ethics walks through audits, appeals, collection and the organization of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Two research courses teach you to use RIA Checkpoint, CCH Tax Research Network and NexisUni and to write up and cite your findings.

You'll choose two electives from Accounting for Income Taxes, Advanced Corporate Taxation, Gifts, Estates and Trusts, International Taxation, and Tax Return Seminar. The program closes with TAX 560, Current Issues in Taxation. It's a capstone where you prepare a technical presentation on an assigned tax topic.

Courses the School Names

• Tax Accounting
• Partnership and LLC Taxation
• Tax Practice, Procedure, and Ethics
• Advanced Tax Research Writing, and Citation Methodology
• International Taxation
• Gifts, Estates and Trusts

Standout Features

• Elective options include international taxation, estate and gift planning, and tax return preparation
• Taxation Advisory Board includes tax professionals from Plante Moran and General Motors
• The first graduate degree program at Walsh, established in 1974, with over 1,300 graduates

The degree needs a minimum of 30 semester credit hours, and Walsh says you can finish in as little as one year. Registration runs year-round across four 11-week semesters, so you can plan your academic year in advance and start in any of four terms.

You have five years from first enrollment to complete the program, which gives you room to slow down when work or family needs more of your time. If your earlier degree or credits cover the foundation courses, those can be waived and any you still need count toward your two electives.

Graduate tuition is $991 per credit hour for 2026-2027, up from $952 in 2025-2026. Across 30 credits, that comes to $29,730 in tuition. Walsh adds a $175 student support fee per semester, and foundation courses may be required depending on your prior coursework, so the waiver option can also lower what you pay.

One alum on Niche said they were able to work while going to school and living at home at an affordable cost.

30 credits at $991 a credit comes to $29,730 in tuition, before fees.

Walsh delivers this program online, and you choose the style that fits each term. You can take classes online anytime with no set meeting times, join live virtual sessions on Zoom, or come to in-person classes on campus. That mix lets you match each term to your schedule, with anytime classes when your calendar is tight and live sessions when you want discussion.

With four 11-week semesters each year, you move at a steady pace. Students on Niche said the online program let them balance study with a full-time job and that professors are accessible and supportive even remotely.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

When students and graduates talk about Walsh, they start with who's teaching. A graduate posting on Reddit in 2024 said most of the faculty are professionals who work out in the tax and accounting field, and a master's student on Niche in 2023 noted professors seem to have real life experience in the field.

Flexibility is the second theme, with a student on Niche in 2024 saying the online program allowed them to balance studies with a full-time job. The third is standing with employers.

A commenter on Reddit in 2024 called Walsh a well respected school in Michigan for anyone who wants to work in state, and an employer who holds an MST said they have used Walsh career placement to find candidates for open positions.

Walsh also reports that onlinemastersdegrees.org placed the MST third on its 2023 list of online master's in taxation programs.

• Which of my earlier courses would waive the two foundation courses, and how does that change my total cost?
• Can I mix anytime online classes, Zoom sessions and campus classes in the same term?
• How often are the electives offered, so I can plan Gifts, Estates and Trusts or International Taxation?
• What does the career services team do for MST students, and does it help with tax season job timing?
• What does the capstone presentation look like in practice?

• Best Master's in Taxation Rank 24 of 78, master's
• Online Master's in Taxation Rank 12 of 41, master's
• Cheapest Programs Rank 15 of 15, master's
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 11 of 40, master's
• Accelerated Programs Rank 12 of 33, master's
• Private University Programs Rank 12 of 43, master's
• Master of Science in Taxation Rank 8 of 21, master's

• University of Miami

  LL.M. in Taxation

  Florida Score 58.8

• Weber State University

  Master of Taxation (MTax)

  Utah Score 58.7

• Taft University System

  Master of Laws in Taxation (LLM)

  Colorado $600 per credit Score 59.5

• New York University

  Master of Studies in Law in Taxation

  New York $3,638 per credit Score 58.3