Southern New Hampshire University Bachelor of Science in Accounting With a Concentration in Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination: Our 2027 Review

Southern New Hampshire University gives you a complete Bachelor of Science in Accounting and fills its major electives with four fraud examination courses, so you graduate with a full accounting degree and a forensic specialty. Classes are fully online in 8-week terms at $354 per credit. Up to 90 credits can transfer in, and the application has no fee, no test scores and no college essay.

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is a private nonprofit in Manchester, New Hampshire, serving more than 200,000 students online and on campus. Its Bachelor of Science in Accounting offers you Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination as a concentration.

The whole degree is 40 courses and 120 credits. The forensic work fills 12 of the 15 credits of major electives. You get the foundation of a traditional accounting degree, with a focus on spotting and preventing fraud, and you'll complete it entirely online.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

SNHU lists online undergraduate tuition at $354 per credit. That works out to $1,062 per course and $42,480 for the 120-credit degree. If you're an active-duty military student, you'll pay $250 per credit, or $750 per course and $30,000 for the degree.

SNHU describes itself as a nonprofit with some of the lowest online tuition rates in the country, and it accepts credits from prior learning options such as Sophia Learning, which can lower what you pay. Applying costs nothing, and you don't need test scores or an essay.

120 credits at $354 a credit comes to $42,480 in tuition, before fees.

• Working adults, because classes are fully online and you learn around your own schedule.
• Transfer students and anyone with college credit already, since up to 90 credits can transfer in and only 30 must be taken at SNHU.
• Service members, who pay a reduced online rate of $250 per credit.
• Readers who want a full accounting degree first, because the forensic focus sits inside the Bachelor of Science in Accounting.
• Future investigators who like technology, thanks to a course built around digital forensic tools.
• Students who may want a master's later, with up to 4 graduate-level courses (12 credits) available at the online undergraduate rate.

Four courses, 12 credits, make up the forensic concentration, and they sit beside an accounting core where, SNHU says, you build a strong foundation in traditional accounting, explore the auditing process in depth and deepen your understanding of taxation.

In Auditing and Forensic Accounting, you'll meet classic fraud types and the impact fraud has on an organization. You identify red flags tied to occupational fraud and analyze methods to detect, prevent and deter it. Detection/Prevention Fraudulent Financial Statements zooms in on one scheme: you'll analyze financial statement fraud, interpret its red flags and recommend ways for stakeholders to reduce fraud inside their organization.

Interview Techniques/Legal Aspects Fraud turns to the people involved. You'll learn the characteristics of fraudsters, what makes a good interview and which questioning techniques work, then apply them to a range of scenarios. In Investigating with Computers, you'll cover computer fraud schemes. You'll learn about authentic digital forensic tools, work out detection and prevention techniques for cybercrime, and present your findings and conclusions to internal stakeholders.

Across the four courses, you'll focus on accounting and stock fraud, employee theft and embezzlement.

Courses the School Names

• Auditing and Forensic Accounting
• Detection/Prevention Fraudulent Financial Statements
• Interview Techniques/Legal Aspects Fraud
• Investigating with Computers

Standout Features

• Accelerated bachelor's to master's option: take up to 4 graduate-level courses (12 credits) at the online undergraduate rate
• Accounting core aligned to the 2024 Uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Examination
• Digital forensics: students learn about authentic digital forensic tools and present findings to internal stakeholders
• Four concentration courses cover classic fraud types, financial statement fraud, fraud interviewing and legal aspects, and investigating with computers

Everything happens online, and SNHU's own phrase for it is "Learn around your schedule." You'll take your courses in SNHU's Brightspace platform, and each one runs in an 8-week term. The full degree is 40 courses, so your pace depends on how many you take at once and how many credits you bring in.

SNHU allows up to 90 transfer credits with at least 30 taken at SNHU, and the admission team says there's always an opportunity to get started. You'll have dedicated academic and career advisors a chat away, tutoring is available any time of the day or night, and the online library offers 600,000+ resources plus 24/7 librarian chat.

In a 2025 survey of 8,718 online students, 93.4% said they would recommend SNHU.

SNHU is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), and the business program is accredited by ACBSP. On the exam side, the core accounting courses align directly with major content areas of the revised CPA exam, and the Bachelor of Science in Accounting was intentionally aligned to the 2024 Uniform CPA Examination.

Faculty bring field experience: Associate Dean of Business Mona Stephens is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor, and featured adjunct Elliot Chester has worked as a forensic accountant at a regional CPA firm.

SNHU lists financial examiner, management accountant and internal auditor among the roles you may be qualified for, and the program page highlights investigating fraud amid mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies and contract disputes. The page also cites a national median of $84,300 for financial examiners, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from May 2023. It adds projected growth of 20 percent through 2032.

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

• SNHU's page quotes an alumnus, Sean Ball, who says many local, state and federal agencies and private companies consider people with his background critical.

  Source: SNHU website

• April Cutler, class of 2018, says her SNHU degree let her accept a staff accountant 2 position after working as an accounts payable clerk.

  Source: SNHU website

• Nick Martucci, class of 2021, says his credit transfer to SNHU was very quick and took less than a week.

  Source: SNHU website

• Which of my earlier credits will transfer, and how soon will I get an evaluation?
• In what order do students usually take the four forensic courses?
• Which digital forensic tools do we use in Investigating with Computers?
• How many graduate-level courses can I take at the undergraduate rate, and how does that work if I continue to a master's?
• What do career advisors do for accounting students who want investigative roles?
• How do the core courses line up with each section of the CPA exam?

A private nonprofit university in Manchester, New Hampshire, serving more than 200,000 students online and on campus.

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