Choosing between a Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcc) and an MBA in Accounting is one of the more consequential decisions an aspiring accounting professional will make. Both credentials open the door to high-earning accounting careers, and both can satisfy the education requirements many states impose on CPA licensure. But they build different skill sets and set graduates up for different long-term trajectories. The right choice depends less on which degree is “better” and more on where you want to end up ten years from now.
A Master of Professional Accountancy is a technical accounting credential, purpose-built for CPA exam preparation and deep specialization in auditing, tax and financial reporting. An MBA in Accounting, by contrast, is a general business degree with an accounting concentration, designed to pair core accounting knowledge with leadership, strategy and cross-functional business skills.
The 30-credit curriculum in Pittsburg State University’s online Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcc) program is aligned almost entirely with CPA exam content, while an MBA in Accounting track combines accounting coursework with a broader business management foundation. Understanding the structural differences between the two is the first step in figuring out which path offers the better return on investment (ROI) for your specific goals.
Master of Professional Accountancy vs. MBA in Accounting: How the Degrees Differ
The best way to understand the differences between the two degree programs is to look at the curriculum each offers. MPAcc coursework mainly focuses on the technical aspects of accounting, including tax research, financial statement auditing, governmental and nonprofit accounting and income tax transactions as standard fixtures. At Pittsburg State University, for example, six of the ten courses in the online MPAcc’s 30-credit curriculum are dedicated to accounting topics such as auditing, tax and financial reporting, while the remaining four reach into international business, leadership, marketing and financial strategy.
An MBA in Accounting takes a more balanced approach by combining accounting coursework with broader business and leadership training. Pitt State’s online MBA in Accounting program pairs four accounting-specific courses, including tax research, financial statement analysis, financial statement auditing and management control systems, with six broader MBA core courses in quantitative analysis, leadership, business-government relations, financial strategy, marketing strategy and strategic management, across the same 30 credit hours. The result is a graduate who pairs accounting fundamentals with leadership, strategy and cross-functional business skills, a combination well suited to management and executive paths in addition to technical accounting roles.
Both programs are offered online through Pitt State’s Gladys A. Kelce College of Business, which holds full AACSB International accreditation. That distinction is held by fewer than 5 percent of business schools worldwide.
How Each Degree Prepares You for CPA Licensure
Those asking how to become a CPA eventually run into the same math problem: a typical bachelor’s degree provides about 120 semester credit hours, but most state boards have historically required 150 to sit for the Uniform CPA Exam. Accounting graduates can close that 30-credit-hour gap while also completing graduate-level coursework by earning an MPAcc or an MBA in Accounting.
That said, CPA requirements are shifting. In 2025, AICPA and NASBA approved model legislation for an additional path to licensure that allows a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration plus two years of qualifying experience to substitute for the extra 30 credit hours, alongside the traditional 150-hour route. States are adopting the new pathway at different speeds, however, so anyone planning a CPA timeline should confirm current rules with their specific state board of accountancy rather than assuming the 120-hour option is already available everywhere.
Between the two degrees, the MPAcc program is the more direct route to CPA readiness. Its curriculum is built around auditing, tax and financial reporting, the same subject areas tested on the CPA Exam’s core sections. An MBA in Accounting can satisfy the same 150-hour requirement and includes several accounting courses, but roughly half its credit hours go toward general business subjects that will not appear on the exam, which means MBA students typically need to do more independent CPA review outside the classroom. Those business courses still pay off: they build the leadership, strategy and cross-functional skills that matter most for accountants moving into management and executive roles, even if they are not tested on the CPA Exam.
Which Degree Has Better ROI? Salary and Career Outcomes Compared
Return on investment starts with baseline numbers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports a median annual wage of $83,680 for accountants and auditors nationwide, with the top 10 percent of earners clearing $144,090 and employment in the field projected to grow 5 percent through 2035, faster than the average for all occupations. That baseline applies broadly across the profession, but an MPAcc or an MBA in Accounting both push individual earnings well above it.
The premium shows up almost immediately. According to the 2025 National MAP Survey covered by the AICPA’s Journal of Accountancy, new accounting hires with a master’s degree earned a median starting salary of $67,750, roughly 17 percent higher than the prior survey cycle and about $6,900 more than new hires with only a bachelor’s degree, who started at a median $60,834. That gap tends to widen over a career rather than narrow, since a master’s degree and an eventual CPA license both correlate with faster promotion into senior and managerial roles.
Career trajectory is where the Master of Professional Accountancy degree and the MBA in Accounting start to diverge more sharply. MPAcc graduates commonly move into public accounting and CPA-licensed roles such as audit, tax and assurance, where Robert Half’s 2026 salary data puts the national midpoint for a senior accountant at $94,750 and an audit or assurance manager at $113,500. MBA-in-
Accounting graduates, by comparison, tend to move into corporate finance and management roles such as financial analyst, controller and finance manager, where the accounting foundation supports broader strategic and leadership responsibilities rather than technical sign-off authority. Neither path is inherently higher-paying at every career stage, but the CPA-anchored track from a MPAcc tends to compound faster in public accounting. In contrast, the MBA track tends to compound faster in corporate leadership pipelines.
Master of Professional Accountancy Online: Finding the Program That Aligns With Your Goals
Once you understand how the two degrees differ and how each affects CPA requirements and salary, the next step is choosing which one aligns with your own career goals. The right program is the one with a curriculum that lines up with the work you want to be doing in five or ten years.
That match starts with an honest inventory of what motivates you. If you like solving technical problems, like reconciling complex transactions, building audit opinions and interpreting tax code, then the accounting-heavy MPAcc program would be the right fit. If you are looking to manage teams who do the technical work, the broader curriculum in an MBA in Accounting program will serve you better.
Choosing Between the MPAcc and the MBA
Choose the MPAcc program if your goal is CPA licensure on the most direct timeline, or if you want to specialize in audit, tax or financial reporting at a public accounting firm. It is also the stronger choice if you already hold an accounting bachelor’s degree and simply need the additional 30 credit hours in accounting-specific coursework, since nearly every course will double as CPA exam preparation.
Choose the MBA in Accounting if you are interested in leading accounting teams and initiatives, or if your bachelor’s degree is in a different field and you want a program that doesn’t require prior accounting coursework to start. The MBA also makes sense if your long-term goal is a corporate finance or executive role rather than a CPA-licensed technical position, since the business core builds skills in strategy, marketing and organizational leadership that the MPAcc curriculum does not cover.
Is Pursuing Both Degrees Worth It?
Pursuing both degrees is rarely worth the additional cost and time for most students. The subject overlap between a MPAcc and an MBA in Accounting is substantial enough that a second master’s degree adds relatively little new technical knowledge once you already hold one of them.
The exception is a professional who completed an MBA in Accounting several years ago without an accounting undergraduate background and later decides to pursue CPA licensure directly. In that case, a shorter, CPA-aligned credential can make sense as a follow-on step. For nearly everyone else, the smarter move is choosing the right degree the first time based on the career path you want, rather than planning to earn both.
What to Look for in an Online Master’s in Accounting Program
When you’re comparing online accounting master’s degree options, look for AACSB accreditation, which is held by a small share of business schools worldwide. It signals that a program meets rigorous standards for faculty qualifications, curriculum design and student outcomes.
Beyond accreditation, compare total cost per credit hour, format flexibility for working professionals and whether admission requires the GMAT or GRE, since many accounting-focused master’s programs now waive standardized testing for qualified applicants. It’s also worth checking whether tuition is the same for in-state and out-of-state students, since that detail alone can shift the total cost of an online program by tens of thousands of dollars depending on where you live, which can significantly impact your ROI. If a Master of Professional Accountancy program is the direct, CPA-aligned path that fits your goals, Pittsburg State University’s AACSB-accredited online program offers one of the most accessible ways to get there.
Learn more about Pitt State’s online Master of Professional Accountancy program.
About Pittsburg State University’s Online Master of Professional Accountancy
Pittsburg State University’s online Master of Professional Accountancy is delivered through the Gladys A. Kelce College of Business, which holds full AACSB International accreditation, a distinction held by fewer than 5 percent of business schools worldwide. The 30-credit-hour program is designed for working professionals, with 100 percent online coursework, multiple start dates each year and no GMAT or GRE requirement for qualified applicants.
Most students complete the CPA-aligned program in as few as 12 months. Graduates finish with a transcript built directly around the CPA Exam’s core content areas, positioning them to sit for the exam soon after coursework ends.
