Florida Southern College and the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise has announced it will offer a new graduate degree in mastery of accountancy by the summer of 2015.

This new program has been underway for almost a year according to Dr. Lynn Clements, professor of accounting, who helped develop the program.

She described it as a mixture of traditional and online coursework, requiring students to meet in a classroom on campus one Saturday per month as well as turn in online assignemnts and correspondences.

“The master of accountancy degree itself is a 16-month degree program that will prepare students for the certified public accounting examination,” Clements said.

The cost of the Becker CPA review course will be in the cost of tuition, which is considered on the highest level of standards in the business community.

“This will be a very competitive program. Only 20 students will be admitted into the program. They will be the best and brightest of their class,” Clements said.

She hopes that this program will initiate a competitive edge for those looking into applying into the business program.

Those already enrolled in the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise may qualify to receive their bachelors and masters degree within four-and-a-half-years.

The 16-month program will encompass the summer period, though it will be separate from the four-and-a-half-year  program for undergraduate students.

According to William Rhey, dean of the Barnett School of Business, “The summer institute will be a concentrated introduction to accounting programs for non- accounting majors and it will be a combination of on-campus and hybrid delivery.”

Those wanting to further their education and gain certification in accounting, but do not have a bachelors in accounting, may enter the program for certification.

“It will enable someone that doesn’t have a accounting background to be prepared to take the masters of accountancy,” Rhey said.

The department boasts one of the best accounting staffing, recently hiring Professor Elana Josey, last fall from the University of South Florida. She has received every major award for teaching at her pervious University.

“We have such a strong group of accounting faculty members and we have a great tradition of teaching accounting,” Rhey said.
“We have one of the largest professional education programs in the region and we have a tradition of producing very good accounting students.”