Accounting Major (2008-09 Catalog)

We help our students learn foundation knowledge and skills in accounting and business that will aid them in private, government, or non-profit careers or prepare them for additional education for public accounting careers.

Certification

Central accounting students, up to 120 days before obtaining a degree and at least 225 quarter credits, or completing the Master of Professional Accountancy program, are qualified to sit for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examination. Washington law requires individuals wishing to sit for the CPA examination to have completed a minimum of 36 quarter credits of study in accounting and a minimum of 36 quarter credits in related business courses. Registration for the examination is made through the State Board of Accountancy, Olympia, Washington. Graduates are also prepared to sit for the Certified Management Accounting examination and the Certified Internal Auditor examination. Students should consult with their major advisor for details.

Transfer Credits

Upper division (300-400 level) courses may be transferred toward meeting the major requirements only with the approval of the department chair and the college dean (or designee). Transfer students must earn at least 45 credits at CWU. Transfer students must complete at least 43 CWU business credits to be eligible for the accounting degree. Transfer students must complete at least 20 CWU upper division accounting credits to be eligible for the accounting degree.

Service to Other Majors

Students majoring outside CB, who are required to take courses in this college for either their major or minor, will be eligible to enroll on a space-available basis. These students will be given priority over other non-college majors wishing to enroll in courses.

Pre-Admission Requirements

Admission Requirements

Students must apply and be admitted to the major before enrolling in 300-400 level courses in the College of Business (CB). At the time of application, all 200 level pre-admission requirements should be substantially completed. Equivalent lower division (100-200 level) courses may be transferred toward meeting the pre-admission requirements. Application forms are available in the department offices. The completed application must be accompanied by transcripts that reflect all prior college work. Admission shall be based on grades earned in the pre-admission requirements. PLEASE NOTE: In Fall 2009, Math 130 will be explicitly one of the pre-admission requirements.

Business courses taken to fulfill the requirements for an undergraduate or graduate degree from the CWU College of Business must have been taken within the last 10 years at the time of graduation. Exceptions may be made, but must be approved prior to acceptance into the College of Business by the department chair and dean or designee.

A cumulative grade point average of 2.50 in the pre-admission requirements courses must be achieved with a minimum grade of “C-” (1.7) in each course. The credit/no credit option will not be accepted for any of these courses and the department will strictly enforce the CWU policy on repeating classes. The applicant also must have completed all university general education requirements. The applicant must have earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50 in all collegiate study.

These criteria also apply to equivalent courses transferred from other institutions.

Students who have met all the above requirements will be admitted unless the number of eligible applicants exceeds available space. In that case, acceptance will be competitive, based on a selection index. Students who have not met all of the above requirements may be admitted provisionally by permission of the college dean (or designee).

Required Courses

*May not be used as an elective if taken in place of MIS 386.
**ACCT 484, if taken, should be completed no later than fall of senior year.

Additional Graduation Requirements

To graduate with an accounting degree, the department requires a cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.0 in upper division accounting courses completed at CWU, in addition to the University grade-point average requirements that apply to all CWU major programs.

Accounting majors must complete a minimum of 90 quarter credits of non-business courses, which may include up to 13.5 quarter credits of economics and nine (9) quarter credits of business statistics. For the remaining non-business credits, courses include all others EXCEPT for those with the prefixes of ACCT, BUS, ECON, FIN, HRM, MGT, MKT, MIS, and OSC.

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