SUNY Old Westbury Master of Science in Forensic Accounting: Our 2027 Review

State University of New York (SUNY) Old Westbury says it offers the only graduate degree in forensic accounting on Long Island, and it comes with real casework. Through the Justice for Fraud Victims Project, you help victims of suspected financial fraud alongside CFE mentors. You'll take evening classes over three semesters in one calendar year, which keeps the 30-credit degree workable for working adults.

SUNY Old Westbury is a public college on Long Island, New York, and its School of Business teaches this Master of Science in Forensic Accounting in a small class atmosphere. The degree launched in 2018 as a Long Island first and a rarity in New York State.

It's built for you if you're heading toward a career as a forensic accountant or fraud examiner, and it gives you in-depth exposure to many technical areas of forensic accounting and fraud examination. You'll need 30 credits to graduate. The program director, David Glodstein, is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and CFE, and he is lead professor of the graduate program.

The program lets you meet the 150-credit-hour requirement for New York CPA licensure, and it provides you a foundation for the CFE exam. Admission follows guidelines from AACSB International.

The school lists public accounting, risk consulting, law firms, law enforcement, insurance, financial institutions and government as industries hiring forensic accounting graduates. The Justice for Fraud Victims Project has led some students to careers with the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security.

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

• You're a Long Island professional who wants a graduate forensic accounting degree close to home, since the school describes it as the only one offered on the island.
• You're a working adult, because classes meet in the evening and both part-time and full-time students can attend.
• You learn by doing, so you can join the Justice for Fraud Victims Project teams of three to five students.
• You want to become a fraud examiner, since the school weaves the CFE Manual from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) into the curriculum.
• You're changing careers from another major, and you may complete extra prerequisites if your bachelor's isn't in accounting.

You start with a foundation core of Accounting Information Systems, Advanced Auditing and Assurance Services, and Fraud Examination. Then the professional core gets specific.

Business Valuation for Forensic Accountants covers how businesses are valued, how to judge a valuation expert's credentials and report, and the three valuation methods. You'll work through interactive exercises on obtaining valuation reports built to stand up to an Internal Revenue Service audit, and guest speakers may present.

Fraudulent Financial Reporting and Forensic Interviewing, Fraud and the Law sit beside Criminology/White-Collar Crime and Computer Forensics, so you see fraud from the accounting, legal, criminal and digital angles. You choose one elective from Case Studies in Forensic Accounting, Special Topics in Fraud Examination, Forensic Document Examination or Specialized Topics: Tax Fraud.

Your culminating experience is a supervised research project in the capstone course, Forensic and Accounting Research. Along the way, the school weaves the ACFE's CFE Manual into the curriculum, which gives you a comprehensive overview of the material on the CFE exam.

Then there's the casework. In the Justice for Fraud Victims Project, you work with faculty and local ACFE mentors to determine whether fraud occurred, how, and an estimate of the loss. School mentors oversee teams of three to five students who give pro bono help to small businesses and nonprofits.

Standout Features

• Evening classes serve both part-time and full-time students
• Justice for Fraud Victims Project gives students real-world casework
• Meets the 150-credit-hour requirement for New York CPA licensure and builds a foundation for the Certified Fraud Examiner exam
• Ranked 4th in the nation among Best Master's Degrees in Forensic Accounting by Accounting.com (2026)
• The only graduate degree in this specific field offered on Long Island

For 2026-2027, part-time graduate tuition is $471 per credit if you're a New York State resident. It's $1,072 per credit if you're an out-of-state student, plus mandatory fees. Your program is 30 credits. The admissions team can confirm which rate applies to you.

30 credits at $1,072 a credit comes to $32,160 in tuition, before fees. At the in-state rate of $471, the same 30 credits come to $14,130.

You'll attend class on campus in the evening. Class starts at 5:30 p.m. You're done by 10:30 p.m. Both part-time and full-time students can attend. The program runs three semesters in one calendar year and requires 30 credits. Applications are reviewed as files are completed, with rolling admission.

You'll need a bachelor's degree in any field, transcripts, two letters of recommendation and a career-goals essay, and if you're a non-accounting major, you may complete extra prerequisites. Graduate Management Admission Test waivers are available, for example if you've passed all four CPA exam parts, you're a licensed attorney or you hold a business master's degree.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

• Alumna Diana Muyibi, who graduated in 2021 and now works in PwC's Financial Crimes Unit, says forensic accounting takes accounting to the next level, with subject matter she finds more interesting and exciting.

  Source: SUNY Old Westbury website

• Graduate student Diana Muyibi was the sole national recipient of the $10,000 Ritchie-Jennings Memorial Scholarship from the ACFE, the first student from the State University of New York system to win it.

  Source: SUNY Old Westbury news

• Program Director David Glodstein said Muyibi represents the high caliber of the students in the Master of Science in Forensic Accounting program.

  Source: SUNY Old Westbury news

• The president of the Long Island Chapter of the ACFE called the Justice for Fraud Victims Project an important initiative that gives fraud victims a way to fight back and a route to some restitution.

  Source: Long Island Chapter of the ACFE

• How are the Justice for Fraud Victims Project teams formed, and when in the program can I join one?
• Which of the four electives fits my goals: Case Studies in Forensic Accounting, Special Topics in Fraud Examination, Forensic Document Examination or Specialized Topics: Tax Fraud?
• Can I take the three semesters part-time, and how does that change the calendar?
• Which prerequisites would I need as a non-accounting major?
• How do I request a waiver of the Graduate Management Admission Test?
• What do the mandatory fees add to the per-credit rate?
• How does the supervised research project in Forensic and Accounting Research work?

• Best Forensic Accounting Programs Rank 14 of 27, master's
• Best Master's Programs Rank 14 of 27, master's
• CFE Exam Prep Programs Rank 9 of 13, master's
• Public Universities Rank 8 of 11, master's
• With Internships Rank 2 of 5, master's
• Best Programs in New York Rank 4 of 4, master's

• University at Albany

  Master of Science in Forensic Accounting

  New York Score 80.6

• Neumann University

  Master of Science in Forensic Accounting and Cybercrime

  Pennsylvania $775 per credit Score 80.5

• Carlow University

  Master of Science in Fraud and Forensics

  Pennsylvania $800 per credit Score 81.5

• Rider University

  Master of Accountancy, Forensic Accounting Concentration

  New Jersey $1,130 per credit Score 86.1