If you pursue a master's degree in accounting, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #10 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 80 schools in the Middle Atlantic Region to determine which ones were the best for accounting students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 3,462 master's degrees in accounting to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Accounting School for Your Master's Degree
The accounting master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to accounting students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of accounting students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt accounting students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized accounting related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for accounting students working on their master's degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Accounting Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Accounting in the Middle Atlantic Region
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for accounting students seeking a a master's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
12 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Master's in Accounting
University of Pennsylvania is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in accounting. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in accounting from University of Pennsylvania
New York University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in accounting. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Master's recipients from the accounting major at New York University make $13,152 more than the typical graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Villanova University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in accounting. Located in the large suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Master's students who receive their degree from the accounting program earn an average of $62,132 in their early career salary.
It is difficult to beat George Washington University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in accounting. GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington.
Master's recipients from the accounting degree program at George Washington University earn $3,519 above the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
University of Scranton is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Scranton.
Master's recipients from the accounting program at University of Scranton get $5,225 more than the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
UMCP is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of College Park.
Master's recipients from the accounting program at University of Maryland - College Park make $2,543 more than the standard graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
UMGC is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Adelphi.
Those accounting students who get their master's degree from University of Maryland Global Campus receive $9,885 more than the typical accounting graduate.
Located in the large city of New York, Baruch is a public college with a large student population.
Accounting master's degree recipients from Baruch College get an earnings boost of approximately $5,399 above the average income of accounting graduates.
Located in the large city of Newark, Rutgers Newark is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the accounting degree program at Rutgers University - Newark make $8,776 above the typical college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Syracuse is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Syracuse.
Master's recipients from the accounting degree program at Syracuse University make $5,080 more than the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
Gain the competitive edge required to advance in today's financial environments with this online graduate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Accounting Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).