WSU Tax Program Opens New Center, Recognized Nationally for Value

OGDEN, Utah – Death and taxes: Life’s two certainties conjure frustration and fear for most people. Weber State University’s new Center for Tax Education & Research will help students, citizens, the business and legal communities navigate the complex world of tax.

The center will be housed within the School of Accounting & Taxation in the John B. Goddard School of Business & Economics.

The new Center for Tax Education & Research, recently approved by the Utah Board of Regents, will offer executive tax education to accountants, lawyers and entrepreneurs, work with employers to offer jobs to MTax graduates, promote education and research activities by tax faculty, and conduct a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program offering tax return preparation services to qualifying low-income community members.    

“In 2010, Weber State established the first and only nationally accredited Master of Taxation (MTax) program in Utah,” said Ryan Pace, MTax director. "This program continues to grow in strength and reputation. The creation of the center will provide additional opportunities to expand the reach of the MTax program and other tax education and faculty research activities.”

Weber State’s MTax program just ranked as the 16th best value program in the nation and topped a list of the top-40 as most affordable.

Online Accounting Degree Programs evaluated all U.S. schools with a master’s degree in taxation, including both face-to-face and online programs. Rankings were developed by comparing CPA exam pass rates, early career salaries, the program’s appeal to students and overall affordability based on 2014 tuition and fees.

Weber State’s annual price of $10,669 was the lowest in the nation by less than half the $22,045.89 average. The ranking site also commended Weber State’s night classes, flexible scheduling, and part-time options to accommodate working students.

The organization noted, “WSU’s Master of Taxation program also helps students augment their income to well above the national average for associated degrees (i.e., accounting, marketing, IT management), and post-grad salaries often start $52,000 a year or more. Along with unbelievably low tuition rates, this makes WSU an indisputable leader in best value graduate taxation programs.”

The top-40 list included University of Illinois, Arizona State University, University of Denver and University of Southern California.

“We offer a top-quality program with low tuition rates and high employment rates upon graduation,” said Jeff Steagall dean of the Goddard School of Business. “We are extremely proud to be ranked among the top-value graduate taxation programs in the country.”

For more information about WSU’s MTax program and to read about the ranking, visit weber.edu/goddard/masters_of_taxation.html.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.

Author:

Allison Barlow Hess, Director of Public Relations
801-626-7948 • ahess@weber.edu

Contact:

Allison Barlow Hess, Director of Public Relations
801-626-7948 • ahess@weber.edu