Doctoral degree (PhD) in Accountancy
University of Missouri
Ph.D. Program and Operating Procedures
Effective September 4, 1996 (Revised 8/29/97, 6/05/00, 4/14/01, 6/4/01, 5/13/04, 6/1/05)
Application and Admission
General. The purpose of the Ph.D. program is to train and prepare students for an academic career at institutions having teaching and research missions. The program is designed to be completed in four years, and specialization in any area of accounting is possible. Our goal is to admit two students per year to the program. The School of Accountancy’s Ph.D. Policy Committee makes admission decisions. Admissions are made for the fall semester each year. Completed applications must be received no later than the prior February 1, and admission decisions are made by April 15.
Criteria for admission include a record of outstanding academic performance, a minimum GMAT score of 620, and strong letters of reference. Prior graduate study and accounting-related work experience are highly desirable. Students admitted to the program normally have an accounting background and work experience; however, we do consider applications from highly qualified applicants with backgrounds in other fields such as economics, computer science, or finance. The Ph.D. Policy Committee encourages a campus visit by applicants to ensure a good match between our program and the applicant's background and career goals.
International Students. Non-U.S. students must have completed a master’s degree (or other post-undergraduate education), have relevant business experience, and have either work or educational experience in an English-language country if English is not the students native language of instruction in primary and secondary schools. If admitted to the program, international students are also required to achieve Level 4 on a language-screening test administered at the end of their second year in the program. This language proficiency is required by the University of Missouri to work as a teaching assistant. Failure to achieve Level 4 results in the loss of the financial support package from the School of Accountancy (including tuition waiver).
Program Requirements
Prerequisites for admission to the Ph.D. program are a minimum of two calculus courses (and preferably three), an introductory statistics course, and intermediate-level microeconomic theory. Assuming that students enroll for ten hours a semester, the course work requirements can be completed in two and one-half years (five semesters). The sixth semester (winter of the third year) is spent preparing for and taking the comprehensive written examination and the fourth year in writing the research thesis. The University of Missouri requires 72 total hours of course work beyond a baccalaureate degree. Specific course work requirements are:
1. 12 hours in doctoral-level accounting research courses;
2. 15 hours of course work in supporting theoretical fields;
3. 18 hours of course work in research tools (statistics, research design, quantitative methods);
4. A minimum of 7 hours dissertation enrollment in ACCT 9090: Research in Accounting.
Accounting Requirements. Students are required to take three research seminars: financial accounting (ACCT 9466), auditing (ACCT 9444), and behavioral research in accounting (ACCT 9467). In addition students enroll in ACCT 9460 while completing the first-year summer paper (see section 3).
Supporting Field. Students are required to take 15 hours in a supporting field. There is flexibility in tailoring each student's program, though generally the choices come from the fields of economics, finance, organizational behavior, or cognitive psychology.
Research Tools. Students are required to take Economics 7370: Introduction to Quantitative Economics, and Statistics 7510: Regression or Statistics 7530: ANOVA. In addition, a minimum of four advanced courses related to the student’s program emphasis is required. Students will typically select either an empirical or an experimental emphasis and take appropriate courses (econometrics, statistics, experimental research design, and analysis of variance).
Friday Afternoon Seminars. An important part of learning research skills is participating in research workshop presentations. The School of Accountancy has a weekly research seminar that meets on Friday afternoons to discuss current research-in-progress presented by faculty and Ph.D. students, and by invited faculty from other universities. Attendance is required at these seminars, and written critiques of selected papers may also be required.
Dissertation Hours. The University requires a minimum enrollment of two credit hours per semester and one credit hour per summer in ACCT 9090 to maintain full-time enrollment in the Ph.D. program after completing compulsory course work requirements and comprehensive exams. This enrollment continues through the semester of dissertation defense.
First-Year Summer Paper
An independent research project, under the guidance of a faculty member, is undertaken in the summer following the first year in the doctoral program. Students enroll in Acct 9460 and received three credit hours. It is the student's responsibility to develop a project in consultation with an interested faculty member. Students receive a research stipend from the School of Accountancy equivalent to a summer TA/RA appointment. A final draft of the project report must be presented in one of the weekly Friday seminars before the end of the subsequent winter semester.
Comprehensive Written Examinations
A comprehensive written examination in accounting is required following the completion of all doctoral course work requirements. Normally this occurs in the winter semester of the student's third year in the program. Preparation of the exam is the joint responsibility of the Ph.D. Director, the Ph.D. Policy Committee, and faculty involved in doctoral course work. The exam consists of questions in the candidate's area of specialization, and general questions covering other areas of accounting research. All doctoral faculty are eligible to evaluate student performance on the exam. At the discretion of the Director, a follow-up oral examination may also be required if deemed necessary. Failure to pass the comprehensive written and oral examinations can result in dismissal from the program. However, the Ph.D. Policy Committee may, if it is deemed appropriate, allow a student to retake the written examination a second time after a minimum of 12 weeks (in accordance with University of Missouri procedures described in the Graduate Catalogue).
Dissertation
The final requirement of the Ph.D. program is a research thesis. Preliminary work on defining the research topic should begin in the student's third year, leading to a written proposal and formal presentation in a Friday afternoon seminar early in the fall semester of the fourth year in the program. Following completion of the comprehensive examinations, the student's Ph.D. Program Committee may be reconstituted to select appropriate faculty given the student’s dissertation topic. An oral defense is required upon completion of the dissertation.
Financial Support Package
All students receive a four-year commitment for 12-month annual financial support package, subject to satisfactory performance in the program which is evaluated on a semester-by-semester basis (see section 8). Students are required to work 20 hours per week as a half-time research assistant (RA) or a teaching assistant (TA) during the fall and winter semesters, and in the summers are required to word as a half-time RA or TA. In addition the university’s standard RA/TA stipend, and the College Ponder Scholarship, additional scholarships may also be available from the School of Accounting or the University of Missouri for exceptional applicants.
Acceptance of the financial support package requires that there be no substantive outside employment while receiving support from the University. If a student is not finished after four years but is making good progress on completing a dissertation, the Director of the School of Accountancy may, at his/her discretion and subject to teaching needs, appoint the student to a half-time TA. No financial support is provided after five years.
Research and Teaching Assistantships
Students are assigned to specific faculty members to work as research assistants during the first two years in the program. This is a strong feature of the Ph.D. program as it facilitates the development of a mentoring relationship with research faculty. Faculty willingness to mentor students is a prime factor in making RA assignments.
Students work as teaching assistants in the third and fourth years of the program. TA appointments are made by the Director of the School of Accountancy, in consultation with the Ph.D. Program Director. Throughout the year, the University offers a number of programs for Ph.D. students designed to facilitate the development of teaching skills.
Performance Assessment
The Graduate College requires a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 for academic eligibility; however, the School of Accountancy requires a higher GPA of 3.25, both cumulative and each semester in the program. Students who fail to maintain a GPA of 3.25, or otherwise fail to achieve satisfactory progress in the program, may have their financial support package suspended, and may be placed on academic probation. See the University of Missouri Graduate Catalogue for additional information on academic probation and dismissal.
Each summer, the Ph.D. Program Director (with advice from the Ph.D. Policy Committee) evaluates the annual performance of doctoral students in the course work stage of the Ph.D. program and prepares a written report to each student. Follow-up meetings may also be held at the Director's discretion. Information on student performance is solicited from the entire faculty. The Director of the School of Accountancy conducts teaching evaluations.
The dissertation chair is responsible for evaluating the progress of students at the dissertation stage. Any problems should be reported immediately to the Ph.D. Program Director and the Director of the School of Accountancy.
Administration of the Program
The Ph.D. Program Director, members of the Ph.D. Policy Committee, and faculty teaching Ph.D. seminars are required to be members of the University of Missouri doctoral faculty. The University requires each student to have a five-member Doctoral Program Committee (with one member from outside Accounting). This committee is initially assigned by the Ph.D. Program Director who also chairs the committee until the comprehensive written and oral examinations are passed. At this point, the chair and committee membership will be reconstituted to select appropriate faculty given the dissertation topic area selected by the student. See the Graduate Catalogue for additional details on doctoral program general requirements and administration at the University of Missouri.
The following forms must be filed at appropriate stages of the program:
Forms D-1 and D-2 are filed upon successful completion of course work.
Form D-3. Filed at the completion of written exams.
Form D-4. Filed after the thesis defense.
Last Edited: 2/28/2008