Murray State University Master of Business Administration With a Concentration in Forensic Accounting: Our 2027 Review

Murray State belongs to the ACFE Anti-Fraud Education Partnership, and its Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a Forensic Accounting concentration builds on that.

If you sit for the CFE exam, you can use a low-cost ACFE student certification package, and your coursework puts data analysis software such as Caseware IDEA and artificial intelligence tools to work. You'll pay $606 per credit hour with all fees included.

Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, offers this 30-credit MBA fully online. Your broad business core covers forensic accounting, data analytics, corporate finance, economic analysis, organizational behavior and management, and four concentration courses add the forensic depth.

Your courses last seven weeks in an accelerated format with multiple start points each year, and Murray State says you can finish in as few as 12 to 18 months. You'll study at the Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business, which has been continuously accredited by AACSB since 1981.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

Murray State's ACFE Anti-Fraud Education Partnership membership gives you access to leading-edge resources and materials. Your coursework prepares you to sit for the CFE exam and to earn credits for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam. The college holds AACSB accreditation and has since 1981.

Murray State cites the ACFE's 2024 Compensation Guide, which found that CFE holders earned 32% more than non-certified colleagues. You can look at careers it lists, such as external or internal auditor, fraud risk manager, tax fraud investigator, forensic accountant in law enforcement, fraud analytics specialist and government auditor.

Where this degree can lead: Forensic Accounting Jobs, Certified Fraud Examiner Certification.

• Readers who want a business degree with a forensic edge: a general MBA core plus four fraud-focused courses.
• Applicants with a 3.25 undergraduate grade point average (GPA), who need no work experience, or a 3.0 GPA with two years of relevant full-time experience.
• Future CFE candidates, who can use the ACFE partnership and its student certification package.
• Career changers without accounting or economics backgrounds, because two free prerequisite courses are built in.
• Readers heading toward auditing, fraud risk management or government roles, which Murray State lists as career targets.
• Data-minded learners who like working with analysis software.

Your concentration is four courses. In Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination, you'll learn the principles of forensic accounting, how and why fraud occurs in organizations, and the major fraud techniques. Fraud Analytics focuses on the technology fraud investigators use to detect fraudulent transactions, financial anomalies and suspicious practices.

In Business Valuation, you'll learn three approaches, income, asset and market, along with company, economic and industry analysis. Legal Environment for Fraud Management Professionals starts with the U.S. court system, civil and criminal, and moves you through fraud investigation, prosecution and legal remedies.

The business core surrounds that work. You'll take Managerial Economics, Corporate Finance, Seminar in Organizational Behavior and Introduction to Business Analytics, which covers visualization, regression, forecasting, simulation, optimization and risk analysis. The MBA capstone, Seminar in Strategic Management, asks you to integrate all the functional areas of business administration, and Murray State says its capstone strengthens investigative, analytical and management skills.

Standout Features

• AACSB-accredited business school
• Coursework uses data analysis tools including Caseware IDEA and AI-driven ChatGPT
• Murray State is a member of the ACFE Anti-Fraud Education Partnership, with a low-cost student CFE certification package

You'll pay $606 per credit hour, or $1,818 per course. Murray State lists $18,180 as the total tuition for the 30-credit program. It's pay-by-the-course, and all fees are included in the total tuition. Two prerequisite courses, in accounting and economics, are free and self-paced.

Murray State adds that partial scholarship opportunities may be available, and if you sit for the CFE exam, ACFE offers you a low-cost student certification package.

30 credits at $606 a credit comes to $18,180 in tuition, before fees.

You'll take the program online in seven-week courses, an accelerated format Murray State describes as ideal for working professionals, with several start points each year. The school says you can complete it in as few as 12 to 18 months.

The two free prerequisites are self-paced, and you can take them alongside your other courses. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and if you meet the GPA standards you don't need Graduate Management Admission Test scores.

• How do I access the ACFE student certification package, and when in the program should I use it?
• Which data analysis tools and software will I use in each concentration course?
• How are the 30 credits split between the business core, the forensic concentration and electives?
• Which of my credits could count toward the CPA exam, and what would I still need in my state?
• How does the graduate certificate pathway work if I want to begin with a smaller first step?
• Which scholarship opportunities are available, and how do I apply?

A public university in Murray, Kentucky, whose Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business has been continuously accredited by AACSB International since 1981.

• Best Forensic Accounting Programs Rank 3 of 27, master's
• Best Master's Programs Rank 3 of 27, master's
• Best Online Programs Rank 2 of 20, master's
• MBA With Forensic Concentration Rank 1 of 6, master's
• CFE Exam Prep Programs Rank 3 of 13, master's
• Cheapest Programs Rank 4 of 15, master's
• Accelerated Programs Rank 3 of 13, master's
• For Working Adults Rank 3 of 13, master's
• Public Universities Rank 3 of 11, master's

• Master of Public Administration with a Concentration in Forensic Accounting

  MPA, Master's

  Fully Online $471.50 per credit Score 97.9

• Graduate Certificate in Forensic Accounting

  Graduate Certificate, Graduate Certificate

  Fully Online $606 per credit Score 95.9

• Utica University

  Master of Science in Forensic Accounting

  New York $775 per credit Score 96.8

• Florida Atlantic University

  Executive Master of Accounting, Forensic Accounting Concentration

  Florida Score 96.7

• West Virginia University

  Master of Science in Forensic and Fraud Examination

  West Virginia $1,063 per credit Score 100.0

• Saint Xavier University

  Master of Business Administration, Fraud Examination and Management

  Illinois $799 per credit Score 90.8