Lakeland University Bachelor of Arts in Accounting, Fraud and Forensic Emphasis: Our 2027 Review

Lakeland gives you a full accounting bachelor's degree with a Forensic/Fraud emphasis, an option the school calls rare among U.S. colleges. Tuition is $550 per credit, you can learn online or on a night schedule, and paid co-op work can cover up to a quarter of your degree. It's a practical route into accounting with fraud work built in.

Lakeland University is a private nonprofit school in Plymouth, Wisconsin, and this Bachelor of Arts in Accounting lets you add a Forensic/Fraud emphasis. The degree is 121 credits. Lakeland says the major trains you to be an economic problem-solver and analyst, not only a bookkeeper, and it covers financial accounting, managerial accounting, tax accounting and more.

The school describes itself as one of only a few U.S. colleges offering a fraud and forensic emphasis in an accounting degree, and it calls that a source of pride. You can finish in as little as three years, and there are six start points a year. Classes run in 12-week or 7-week terms, so you're never far from the next one.

Evening and online undergraduate tuition is $1,650 per class, which works out to $550 per credit. Lakeland says there are no hidden costs or fees as part of tuition, and course and lab fees are listed separately. The school also reports that the median student loan debt for its accounting graduates was $15,000, and that 32% of accounting students graduated with no student loan debt.

Paid co-op work can earn you up to 25% of your degree, so you can build credit while you earn. If you're planning a master's, Lakeland says you can earn the bachelor's in accounting plus an MBA in four years. Ask the financial aid office what transfer credit and aid you'd qualify for.

121 credits at $550 a credit comes to $66,550 in tuition, before fees.

• Adult learners who want a night-class or online schedule, since Lakeland offers onsite, online, online live and BlendEd Live formats.
• Students who want paid work experience, because the Cooperative Education option can cover up to 25% of the degree.
• Anyone watching cost, with $550 per credit and no hidden fees in tuition, according to the school.
• Future Certified Public Accountant (CPA) candidates, since the major qualifies you to sit for the exam with a few additional courses.
• Readers who like criminal justice as much as numbers, thanks to the criminal law and criminal investigation courses in the emphasis.

The core is a complete accounting degree. You take Auditing Theory and Practice, Advanced Financial Reporting, Accounting Information Systems and Managerial Accounting Analysis, along with business courses in management, finance and information systems. Lakeland also requires three data courses, chosen from options such as programming, database basics, data visualization, predictive analytics and applied statistics, and it says it's the only Wisconsin college with that requirement.

The fraud track adds 15 semester hours. Fraud Examination I (ACC 265) introduces the kinds of economic fraud committed against organizations, pulling together accounting, criminal justice and computer information systems ideas.

It concentrates on financial fraud, white-collar crime, how fraud is carried out, and how to investigate, detect and prevent it. Fraud Examination II (ACC 365) goes further. Three criminal justice courses round out the emphasis: Introduction to Criminal Justice, Criminal Law and Criminal Investigations.

If you'd rather learn on the job, the optional Cooperative Education emphasis is open to accounting majors and runs 22 to 26 semester hours of paid work experience. One junior in the forensic and fraud emphasis has earned 12 credits across internships and tutoring through the co-op program.

Courses the School Names

• Federal Taxation of Individuals
• Federal Taxation of Entities
• Intermediate Accounting I
• Intermediate Accounting II
• Accounting Information Systems
• Auditing Theory and Practice
• Advanced Financial Reporting
• Managerial Accounting Analysis
• Personal Finance
• Fraud Examination I
• Fraud Examination II
• Introduction to Data Visualization Techniques
• Predictive Analytics

Standout Features

• Becker-based CPA (4 courses) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA) (2 courses) prep that counts as MBA credit
• Median student loan debt for accounting graduates reported at $15,000 (national $37,650, Wisconsin $31,894, per the program page)
• Only college or university in Wisconsin offering MBA courses for credit in preparing for the CPA and CMA exams
• Optional emphasis menu (Forensic/Fraud, Finance, Insurance, International Business, Student Designed and more) and a dual major with Business Administration or Management
• Qualifies students to sit for the CPA and CMA examinations with a few additional courses
• Ranked #5 on Accounting.com's Most Affordable Online Bachelor's in Accounting Programs
• Ranked #5 on Accounting.com's Most Affordable Online Bachelor's in Accounting Programs of 2021 list
• Required Accounting Information Systems course uses QuickBooks Online and data analytics tools
• Required personal finance course (the only Wisconsin college or university to do so, per the page)
• Small classes with personalized advising by a department faculty member
• Student Accounting Club
• Up to 30 credits for prior learning, plus College-Level Examination Program (CLEP)/Advanced Placement (AP)/IB/Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) equivalency exams
• Ability to graduate in 3 years
• Cooperative Education lets students earn up to 25% of the degree via paid work experience
• Only college or university in Wisconsin that requires at least 3 courses in data analytics
• Option to earn the bachelor's in Accounting plus an MBA in 4 years

Lakeland lists four formats. Onsite means one night a week at one of its six center locations. Online lets you participate weekly when it works best for you. Online Live has you attend live classes virtually from anywhere one night per week. BlendEd Live lets you attend in person or online.

Courses run in 12-week or 7-week terms with six starts a year, and applications are accepted on a rolling basis. A full-time plan on the 121-credit degree takes four years, and the school says you can graduate in as little as three. According to the school, 54% of non-transfer students who start the accounting degree graduate in less than four years.

Classes are small, and you'll get personalized advising from an accounting faculty member.

With a few additional courses, the Lakeland accounting major qualifies you to sit for the CPA and CMA examinations. The school also offers Becker-based CPA and CMA prep courses that count as MBA credit, and it says it's the only Wisconsin college offering MBA courses for credit that prepare you for those exams.

Students often land paid internships at local CPA firms as early as sophomore year. A professor says every student of hers who wanted a job got one this year, and that public accounting firms are making job offers in the junior year. Faculty point to graduates hired by companies such as Acuity, Schenck SC and Johnsonville.

Career areas include financial accounting, managerial accounting, tax accounting, auditing and data analytics.

Where this degree can lead: Forensic Accounting Jobs.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

• Allie Smith, a junior in the forensic and fraud emphasis, tells Lakeland that her co-op work is more than a job. She's getting hands-on experience that lets her take what she learned in class into the real world.

  Source: Lakeland University website

• Accounting professor Chris Heinen tells Lakeland that accountants today are doing data analytics, forecasting and making decisions that help a business grow.

  Source: Lakeland University website

• Which courses make up the Forensic/Fraud emphasis this year, and do they all run online?
• How many credits of the Cooperative Education emphasis can I combine with the fraud emphasis?
• Which delivery format fits my work schedule best: Online, Online Live, BlendEd Live or Onsite?
• How many of my transfer credits would Lakeland accept?
• Which additional courses do I need to sit for the CPA exam in my state?
• How does the bachelor's plus MBA in four years work, and when do I apply for it?
• Can the school connect me with an internship at a local CPA firm?

• Best Forensic Accounting Programs Rank 17 of 22, bachelor's
• Best Bachelor's Programs Rank 17 of 22, bachelor's
• Best Online Programs Rank 7 of 8, bachelor's
• Cheapest Programs Rank 7 of 11, bachelor's
• For Working Adults Rank 3 of 4, bachelor's
• With Internships Rank 6 of 8, bachelor's

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