If you’re considering a career in accounting, you may be wondering whether you need a Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcc), a CPA license, or both. While these credentials are closely connected, they serve different purposes.
An MPAcc provides advanced accounting education, while a CPA license is the professional credential that allows accountants to meet state licensing requirements and unlock broader career opportunities.
Pittsburg State University’s online Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcc) program is designed with the flexibility working professionals need, while still covering the credit hours and coursework the CPA path requires.
Understanding how these two credentials work together, rather than competing with one another, makes it easier to plan a career in accounting. This article breaks down what an MPAcc degree covers, how it fits into the broader CPA licensure process and what the data says about exam pass rates and salary outcomes for accountants who pursue both credentials.
What Is a Master of Professional Accountancy? Degree Overview
A Master of Professional Accountancy is a graduate degree focused specifically on advanced accounting knowledge rather than general business management. Coursework typically covers advanced financial statement analysis, tax research, financial statement auditing, governmental and nonprofit accounting and professional ethics. Graduates finish with a technical command of the topics that show up on professional licensure exams and in day-to-day accounting practice.
The MPAcc is a more specialized accounting degree, built entirely around advanced accounting coursework. A Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Accounting, by contrast, blends core business leadership training in marketing, finance and management with accounting coursework, broadening a graduate’s business vocabulary but covering fewer of the accounting-specific credit hours most state boards require for CPA licensure. Pitt State’s online MPAcc program keeps every required course focused on the 150 credit hours most states require for licensure, rather than general management theory.
How to Become a CPA: Where the MPAcc Fits in Your Licensure Path
Earning a CPA license involves four separate milestones: completing the required education, passing the Uniform CPA Exam, gaining supervised work experience and applying for a license through a state board of accountancy. The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) has long required 150 semester hours of college coursework for the traditional licensure pathway, which is 30 hours more than a standard four-year accounting degree provides.
NASBA and the AICPA recently added two additional model pathways, a 120-hour option paired with two years of experience and a graduate-degree option paired with one year of experience. However, individual states still have to adopt these changes before they take effect locally.
The CPA exam itself has three required Core sections.
- Auditing and Attestation (AUD)
- Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)
- Taxation and Regulation (REG)
Candidates then choose one Discipline section from Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR), Information Systems and Controls (ISC) or Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP), for a total of four exam sections. According to AICPA & CIMA, each section is scored on a 0-to-99 scale and candidates need a 75 to pass, with all four sections completed within a rolling 30-month window.
Passing the exam is not the finish line. Most states also require one to two years of accounting experience verified by an already-licensed CPA before a candidate can apply for their own license. This is where the MPAcc earns its keep: a 30-credit-hour program like Pitt State’s online MPAcc program is specifically sized to close the gap between a 120-hour bachelor’s degree and the 150-hour requirement most states still use, while covering the accounting-specific credit hours state boards typically require rather than general elective credits.
CPA Requirements vs. MPAcc Degree Requirements: What You Need to Know
Getting into an MPAcc program and getting a CPA license require two very different sets of paperwork. Admission to Pitt State’s online MPAcc, for example, requires a bachelor’s degree in accounting (or a graduate degree in an accounting-related field), a 3.0 undergraduate GPA and a resume, with no GMAT or GRE required. The 30-credit program is delivered in 7-week courses and can be finished in as few as 12 months, which means the education side of CPA requirements can be checked off in a single academic year for most students.
CPA requirements, by contrast, are set state by state and layer on top of the education piece. Every jurisdiction requires the 150 semester hours discussed above, passing all four CPA Exam sections and a period of verified work experience. The specific rules around residency, ethics exam requirements and application fees vary according to state boards. Because of this variation, prospective CPAs should always confirm the exact CPA exam requirements for the state where they plan to practice, even while an MPAcc program is handling the bulk of the education requirement in the background.
CPA Exam Pass Rates and Difficulty: How MPAcc Coursework Aligns With Exam Prep
CPA Exam difficulty varies a great deal by section. For the 2025 testing year, AICPA & CIMA reported a cumulative pass rate of about 42% for FAR and roughly 48% for AUD, making these two Core sections the toughest hurdles for most candidates. REG fared better at roughly 63%, while the Discipline sections ranged widely: TCP posted the highest pass rate at nearly 78%, ISC came in around 68% and BAR sat at the bottom of the field at about 42%.
These patterns line up with what an MPAcc curriculum is designed to teach. A course in financial statement analysis builds the technical foundation FAR tests for, a dedicated auditing course maps directly onto AUD content and coursework in tax research and income tax transactions prepares students for REG and the TCP discipline specifically. Because the coursework in Pitt State’s online MPAcc program is aligned with these exam topics, students often enter exam prep with a head start on the sections where candidates tend to struggle most.
Salary Outcomes: MPAcc Alone vs. MPAcc + CPA License
For many prospective students, the question isn’t just how to become a CPA, but whether the investment pays off. Salary data suggests that combining an MPAcc with CPA licensure can produce meaningful earnings advantages. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts the median annual wage for accountants and auditors at $81,680, with employment projected to grow 5% through 2034. Within that baseline, a master’s degree already moves the needle. The 2025 MAP Survey reported by the Journal of Accountancy found new accounting hires with a master’s degree started at a median of $67,750, about 11% higher than the $60,834 median for bachelor’s-degree hires.
Adding the CPA license on top of that degree is where the wider gap shows up. Becker’s 2026 salary analysis found that credentialed accountants earn an average of $95,645 compared with $79,135 for non-credentialed peers, a gap of roughly 21% that tends to widen further at senior levels. In practical terms, an MPAcc alone raises starting pay and satisfies the education requirement for licensure, but pairing the degree with an active CPA license is what unlocks the full salary premium the data shows.
MPAcc vs. MBA in Accounting: Which Degree Offers a Better Return on Investment (ROI)?
Choosing between an MPAcc and an MBA in Accounting comes down to career direction rather than cost, at least at some schools. Pitt State’s online MPAcc program and online MBA in Accounting program are both affordable and comparably priced. The MPAcc concentrates almost entirely on technical accounting content and CPA exam alignment, while the MBA in Accounting pairs accounting coursework with broader business subjects such as marketing strategy, financial strategy and leadership.
For students whose primary goal is passing the CPA Exam and practicing as a licensed accountant, the MPAcc is the more direct route, since every required course maps back to a licensure topic. For students who want accounting knowledge alongside management and leadership training, with the goal of qualifying for roles such as controller or finance-director, the online MBA in Accounting program offers a stronger long-term ROI even though it moves through CPA-specific content more slowly. Either path, when completed through an accredited online master’s in accounting program, satisfies the credit-hour piece of CPA requirements. The right choice depends on whether a student’s near-term goal is licensure speed or management breadth.
Prepare for a Career as a CPA With Pitt State’s Online MPAcc Program
The relationship between the MPAcc program and the CPA is straightforward once you see the whole picture. The degree builds the technical foundation and satisfies the credit-hour requirement, while the license is the professional credential that unlocks the full CPA salary premium and the responsibilities that come with it.
Choosing a program with an accelerated, 12-month completion timeline removes much of the guesswork from that path. Pittsburg State University’s 30-credit, AACSB-accredited online Master of Professional Accountancy program prepares professionals for this path and can be completed in as few as 12 months, with no GMAT or GRE requirement.
Find out how Pitt State’s online MPAcc program prepares you for a career as a CPA.
About Pittsburg State University
Pittsburg State University is a public university located in Pittsburg, Kansas, with tuition rates reviewed annually by the Kansas Board of Regents. Its Gladys A. Kelce College of Business holds accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), a distinction held by fewer than 5% of business schools worldwide.
The university’s online programs, including the Master of Professional Accountancy, are built for working professionals looking for a flexible, career-focused path to gaining in-demand skills and credentials. Same-rate tuition for in-state and out-of-state students and multiple start dates each year make it possible for professionals across the country to pursue graduate study on their own schedule.
