Accounting, B.B.A.

Program Description

The Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting requires a minimum of 120 credit hours of undergraduate course work. 

Certifications

Many graduates desire to gain certifications in their selected area of specialization. The Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the best known of these certifications. To obtain a CPA license in Virginia, candidates must meet a 150-hour education requirement, including 24 credits in accounting and 24 in business. The masters in accounting program is highly recommended for those electing a career in public accounting.

In addition to the CPA exam, graduates of our program sit for the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) exam, the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) exam, the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) exam and others.

Transfer Credit

All upper-division accounting course work (300-499) must be completed at JMU.

Admission and Retention Requirements

College of Business Progression Standards

Any student admitted to JMU can declare any major offered by the College of Business. However, students must make satisfactory progress in order to be formally admitted into the College of Business. Requirements to continue pursuing a B.B.A. degree, often referred to as progression standards or formal admission, can be found on the College of Business catalog page.

Accounting Major Progression Standards

Accounting majors are required to earn a minimum grade of "B-" in both COB 241 and COB 242.

Students are required to earn a minimum grade of "C-" in ACTG 343 before continuing to ACTG 344.

No required 300- or 400-level accounting major course may be attempted more than two times. An "attempted course" is one in which a final letter grade, including "W," "WP" and "WF" is recorded on the student's official JMU transcript.

Degree Requirements

B.B.A. Core Component

¹

MATH 220 may be substituted for COB 191.

²

COB 241 must be taken before COB 242.

³

COB 242 is a prerequisite for COB 300 but is not used in calculating the B.B.A. core GPA.

⁴

COB 191 or equivalent and MATH 205 or equivalent are prerequisites for COB 291.

⁵

Calculus is required but not used in calculating the B.B.A. core GPA. Students may substitute MATH 231, MATH 233 or ISAT 151 to fulfill the calculus requirement. MATH 235 is preferred for Economics and Finance majors.

⁶

All four COB 300 courses must be taken during the same semester.

⁷

COB 300 is a prerequisite or corequisite for COB 318. COB 318 is a prerequisite for COB 487 and BLAW 497.

⁸

COB 487 must be taken during the senior year.

Major Requirements

To receive a B.B.A. degree in accounting, students must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 in the major. Major courses are those with an ACTG prefix.

Recommended Schedule for Majors

First Two Years

Students planning to major in accounting must be accepted into the College of Business. Admission requirements to the College of Business require completion of 9 lower-level B.B.A. core courses. It is expected that the lower-level B.B.A core curriculum will be completed during the first two years of study along with General Education and elective courses. Students will work with an advisor to develop their schedule of courses for the first two years. It is recommended that accounting majors complete ACTG 305 in the spring of their sophomore year.

Third and Fourth Years

Students accepted into the College of Business will begin major courses in their junior year.

Third Year

Fourth Year

Up to seven hours of core requirements in economics and calculus may also be taken for General Education credit. Students who take the General Education packages and courses recommended by the College of Business will have only 39 credit hours of additional B.B.A. core requirements.