<p>On the assurance side, there isn’t much advantage of one having a MS vs a BS in the event each candidate has 150 semester/225 quarter units. Getting one’s foot in the door ultimately comes down to networking, not about what degree they have AS LONG AS they have the required unit total for their CPA license. Once the candidate gets through to the in-house phase of the interview process, none of the interviewers care about whether that person has a MS or a BS.</p>
<p>I will say that in tax, there’s been some shift in the firms’ recruiting strategy, pursuing the attorneys with the JDs and the LLMs for the staff/associate positions in addition to hitting the schools with the MS Taxation programs. I’d say there’s some advantage in having that MS Taxation (or MBT at USC) over a person straight out of undergrad since most undergrad programs offer one or two tax courses, tops. Frankly, none of the students who come out of undergrad know anything about tax and some offices do in fact take that into consideration. </p>
<p>But even in tax, despite there being a bigger focus in hiring attorneys or MST students, the advantage isn’t materially significant over a student straight out of undergrad. Believe it or not, despite many people submitting their job applications, firms still have a hard time finding quality candidates to join their firm so they’ll hit target schools and interview people who have the potential to become future leaders. Ultimately, finding future leaders is the top priority (leadership activities, involved on campus, good grades, the way they carry themselves in networking events, etc), not what degree they hold. Hope that helps</p>