The Accounting Concentration 

Degree Requirements:

Course Work: The program of study, which includes course work and the completion of a doctoral dissertation, can generally be completed in approximately four years.

Students must take a minimum of 45 credits of course work in research methodology, statistics, major and minor area courses at the graduate level.

The first year of course work is designed primarily to help students develop a foundation in both general research methods and accounting research. Students typically take six to eight courses that cover general research design, the use of statistical tools for data analysis, and issues specifically related to accounting research.

After the first year, students concentrate on major and minor area seminars. Major area seminars include Behavioral Research in Accounting, Security Market Research, and either Advanced Readings in Behavioral Research or Advanced Readings in Security Market Research. In addition, students take a Directed Research in Accounting course, where they design and conduct a research project that is of publishable quality.

Students also take three minor area courses. The minor area is selected depending upon the student's research interest. For example, students interested in behavioral research often select a psychology minor, and students interested in security markets research typically minor in finance or economics.

First Year Courses

Second Year Courses

 Third Year Courses 

Other Requirements:

Examinations: Students must pass a qualifying examination in the Accounting area at the end of the third semester. In addition, after satisfactorily completing all course work, students must pass a comprehensive examination in their major and minor areas.

Dissertation (Ph.D. Thesis): After successfully completing the comprehensive examination, the student must propose, conduct, and defend a piece of original research, under the guidance of a dissertation committee. The committee is typically comprised of four professors with a record of scholarly publication in an area relevant to the student's dissertation. A student first submits a dissertation proposal to the committee. Once the proposal is approved, the student conducts the research and defends the completed dissertation before the committee.