Western Illinois University Bachelor of Business in Accountancy: 2027 Review

Score

63.8 of 100

Cost (20%)

9.1 of 10

Graduate Earnings (20%)

4.0 of 10

Completion (15%)

5.9 of 10

Flexibility (15%)

4.0 of 10

Credential Alignment (10%)

10.0 of 10

Track Record (10%)

6.4 of 10

Program Reputation (10%)

6.4 of 10

Cost per Credit

$350.10 per credit

Credits

120

Tuition

$42,012

Format

Fully Online, On Campus

Accreditation

AACSB (confirmed on the official list)

AACSB Accounting

Accounting accreditation listed by AACSB

See exactly how we score on the methodology page. We checked the school's figures on October 7, 2026.

Western Illinois builds exam help into the degree. You can take transcripted review courses for the certified public accountant (CPA) exam with Becker materials. There's also review for the certified management accountant (CMA) and enrolled agent (EA) exams through Gleim. Choose a Management Accounting or Taxation option and sit for several credentials from one major.

Western Illinois University is a public university in Macomb, Illinois. The Bachelor of Business in Accountancy comes from its School of Accounting and Business Administration. You can earn it on campus or fully online, with no campus visits required for online students.

• Future CMAs: the Management Accounting option leans toward cost work, and ACCT 456 walks you through the CMA process.
• Tax-minded students: Tax I covers individual taxpayers, Tax II covers corporations and partnerships, and the Taxation option gives you Tax Research and an Enrolled Agent prep course.
• Working adults: the online program lets you enroll part-time while you keep a full-time job, and it admits on a rolling basis.
• Transfer students with up to 90 credits: you can bring them in, as long as at least half of your accounting courses happen at WIU.

The 36-hour accountancy core runs through three Intermediate Accounting courses, with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the third. In Advanced Accounting I you work through consolidations and international standards. Cost Accounting teaches you how to price jobs and services.

Accounting Systems and Control, Introduction to Auditing and Professional Ethics and Regulation round out your major. Business Strategy is the capstone, and you pass an Accounting Knowledge Assessment before you graduate. Electives include Fraud Examination, Estate Planning and Financial Modeling.

The degree totals 120 semester hours, including 37 of general education and a 57-hour business and accountancy core. WIU's GradTrac plan lets you finish in four years or less, at about 30 hours a year.

Online students can transfer up to 90 credits. The integrated bachelor's plus master's path takes five years. If you're after CPA licensure, the catalog points to an MBA with an accountancy concentration for the extra 30 hours.

You'll pay $350.10 per credit hour if you start in the 2026-27 terms. Military personnel with tuition assistance vouchers pay $250.00 per credit. WIU awards over 1,000 scholarships a year across majors.

The online version is 100% virtual, with the same advising and tutoring campus students get. Accounting courses run in spring, summer and fall terms. Admission is rolling, so you don't wait on one yearly deadline.

The business and accountancy programs are accredited by AACSB, and the B.B. in Accountancy also holds AACSB's supplemental accounting accreditation. WIU also cites specialized accreditation from the Institute of Certified Management Accountants. Review courses for the three CPA sections use Becker, and the CMA and EA courses use Gleim. ACCT 430 is a senior CPA Exam Preparation course.

Where this degree can lead: Accounting Degree Jobs.

College Consensus ranked WIU No. 2 on its 2024 list of Best Value Online Colleges and Universities. WIU says its accountancy graduates posted the highest overall CPA pass rate among Illinois public universities in 2017, at 70.67 percent.

The program lists Caterpillar, RSM, John Deere and Deloitte among places its graduates work. The department says its Beta Alpha Psi chapter won the Gold Challenge Award in three of four recent years. The college also says its faculty bring public, private and international accounting experience to class.

• Which option, Management Accounting or Taxation, fits the jobs I want?
• How do the transcripted Becker review courses fit into my schedule and credit count?
• Which MBA path gives me the 30 extra hours for CPA licensure?
• Which experiential learning options can I complete from a distance?

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