The Best Master's in Accounting in Texas for 2026

Trinity University's Master of Science in Accounting is a nine-month, two-semester program that starts each fall and serves as the capstone to its undergraduate accounting track. Coursework includes Accounting Theory, Advanced Managerial Accounting, and Spreadsheet-Based Modeling and Data Analysis, and the strongest students can compete for FASB or GASB Postgraduate Technical Assistantships, a highly selective honor the program page notes Trinity has landed twice in the last six years. The school lists Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, KPMG, and PwC among the firms that have hired MSA graduates.

Trinity's 84% graduation rate comes with a 26% admit rate, nearly as selective as UT Austin's 27%, and the program reports exemplary first-time CPA exam pass rates alongside 100% job placement for its graduates. Because Trinity is private, tuition does not vary by residency: $53,352 for the full nine-month degree, well above the public in-state options but the same price for every admitted student. Its Hakia Score of 92.9 fits students who want a small, private, high-placement program and can pay the flat tuition without an in-state discount to chase. Details on CPA licensure requirements are available through AICPA.

Baylor's Hankamer School of Business runs two graduate accounting tracks: the Master of Accountancy and the Master of Taxation. Current Baylor undergraduates can stack a BBA with either degree through the joint BBA/MAcc or BBA/MTax pathway, while students who already hold a bachelor's degree apply directly to the standalone MAcc or MTax. Baylor's program page states its students "consistently score among the top in the nation" on the CPA exam, the credentialing test most accounting graduates in Texas will sit for.

The numbers back the reputation: an 80% graduation rate and a 51% admit rate, both real Baylor figures, feed into a Hakia Score of 91.2, the fifth-highest of any master's in accounting program in Texas for 2026. Tuition runs a flat $58,100 regardless of residency, since Baylor is private, so the cost is the same whether you commute from Waco or move from out of state. That flat rate, paired with the taxation specialization option most public schools do not offer, makes Baylor a fit for students set on a CPA track or a tax-focused career who want a single price with no out-of-state penalty.

SMU's Cox School of Business houses its MS in Accounting inside a STEM-designated Specialized Master's suite built around what Cox calls its NextGen curriculum: analytics, leadership, and experiential learning layered onto the core coursework. The program runs nine months, and Cox's own site markets it as ranked No. 3 in the U.S. among smaller schools, a third-party distinction the school cites rather than a Hakia finding. Cox pairs the degree with dedicated career services from day one and points to firms recruiting students before graduation.

SMU's real numbers are the strongest of the four Texas programs profiled here on outcomes: an 84% graduation rate and a 63% admit rate, the most accessible admit rate on this list. Those figures, plus SMU's 12,116-student enrollment base and STEM designation, produce a Hakia Score of 91, sixth in Texas for 2026. Tuition is a flat $59,500 with no in-state discount, so it fits students who want a fast, nine-month timeline and a broader admit pool than Baylor's or UT Dallas's narrower funnels.

UT Dallas's Naveen Jindal School of Management runs two distinct paths to its MS in Accounting and Analytics, both STEM-designated. The Flex Program lets students enter in fall, spring, or summer and pick courses across public accounting, corporate accounting, assurance, taxation, internal audit, or accounting systems. The Cohort Program is a fixed 16-month, 36-credit-hour sequence, admitting only in fall, built specifically to prepare students to sit for the CPA exam through a lock-step curriculum shared with a single incoming class.

UT Dallas is the only public school among these four, and it shows in the tuition: $10,639 in-state versus $36,139 out-of-state, a $25,500 gap that rewards Texas residency. A 76% graduation rate and a 65% admit rate, the most open of the group, combine with the school's 29,886-student enrollment to produce a Hakia Score of 90.4, seventh in Texas for 2026. The tuition math favors Texas residents chasing the CPA-track Cohort option; out-of-state applicants pay closer to Baylor's or SMU's flat private rates without the private-school price tag on the in-state side.

University of Dallas's Gupta College of Business runs its MS in Accounting as a fully remote, 36-credit-hour program split across 12 classes: three Gupta core courses on leadership, ethics, and communication, plus nine accounting courses covering intermediate financial accounting, auditing, income tax, financial statement analysis, data analytics in accounting, and advanced accounting. Admission requires no GMAT or GRE, just one prerequisite course, Intermediate Financial Accounting I, and the program runs on multiple start dates for a typical 1.5 to 2 year completion for working professionals.

University of Dallas posts a 73% graduation rate and a 53% admit rate, the two figures behind its 85.1 Hakia Score, eighth among Texas master's in accounting programs for 2026. Tuition is a flat $50,140, the lowest sticker price of the four private schools on this list, at a campus with just 2,078 total enrollment, the smallest by far. The combination of no standardized test requirement, fully remote delivery, and AACSB accreditation fits working accountants who need flexibility over prestige and want to avoid Baylor's or SMU's larger, more selective cohorts.

Texas Tech University is a public institution in Lubbock, TX. Its Master's in Accounting program ranks #9 of the 12 analyzed here with an 83.7 Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and graduate outcomes. That sits below the 88.4 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 69% of its students, below the 74% average across the ranked schools. Texas Tech University admits 73% of applicants, less selective than the 56% average for the group. That is more open than the 26% rate at Trinity University, the most selective program on this list. Its completion rate lands in the middle of the pack in a group where graduation runs from 44% to 89%.

On cost, Texas Tech University charges $8,935 a year in-state, roughly 2.4x the $21,240 out-of-state rate. Over two years that is about $17,870 in tuition for residents, against $42,480 for non-residents. That puts it among the most affordable on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $8,319 at University of North Texas to $59,500 at Southern Methodist University. Graduates step into a field with a $94,160 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the main draw here is its low in-state cost.

University of North Texas is a public institution in Denton, TX. Its Master's in Accounting program ranks #10 of the 12 analyzed here with an 81.8 Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and graduate outcomes. That sits below the 88.4 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 61% of its students, below the 74% average across the ranked schools. University of North Texas admits 72% of applicants, less selective than the 56% average for the group. That is more open than the 26% rate at Trinity University, the most selective program on this list. Its completion rate lands in the middle of the pack in a group where graduation runs from 44% to 89%.

On cost, University of North Texas charges $8,319 a year in-state, roughly 2.2x the $18,159 out-of-state rate. Over two years that is about $16,638 in tuition for residents, against $36,318 for non-residents. That puts it among the most affordable on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $8,319 at University of North Texas to $59,500 at Southern Methodist University. Graduates step into a field with a $94,160 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the main draw here is its low in-state cost.

McMurry University is a private, nonprofit institution in Abilene, TX. Its Master's in Accounting program ranks #11 of the 12 analyzed here with an 81.7 Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and graduate outcomes. That sits below the 88.4 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 44% of its students, below the 74% average across the ranked schools. McMurry University admits 57% of applicants, less selective than the 56% average for the group. That is more open than the 26% rate at Trinity University, the most selective program on this list. Its completion rate lands toward the lower end in a group where graduation runs from 44% to 89%.

On cost, McMurry University charges $31,850 a year in-state. Over two years that totals about $63,700 in tuition. That puts it mid-pack on price on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $8,319 at University of North Texas to $59,500 at Southern Methodist University. As a private institution, its tuition does not change with residency, unlike the public universities on this list. Graduates step into a field with a $94,160 national median salary reported by the BLS. It earns its place in the top 12 on the balance of cost, completion, and outcomes.

Abilene Christian University is a private, nonprofit institution in Abilene, TX. Its Master's in Accounting program ranks #12 of the 12 analyzed here with a 77.9 Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and graduate outcomes. That sits below the 88.4 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 59% of its students, below the 74% average across the ranked schools. Abilene Christian University admits 66% of applicants, less selective than the 56% average for the group. That is more open than the 26% rate at Trinity University, the most selective program on this list. Its completion rate lands toward the lower end in a group where graduation runs from 44% to 89%.

On cost, Abilene Christian University charges $43,900 a year in-state. Over two years that totals about $87,800 in tuition. That puts it mid-pack on price on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $8,319 at University of North Texas to $59,500 at Southern Methodist University. As a private institution, its tuition does not change with residency, unlike the public universities on this list. Graduates step into a field with a $94,160 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the main draw here is its an online option.