The accounting minor is open to registered UC San Diego students pursuing a bachelor's degree. There is no separate admissions process. We highly encourage students to declare the Accounting Minor as soon as possible, to ensure you are meeting all program requirements. Rady sends important information regarding class offerings and policy changes to our minor students through our minor list.

You may declare a minor through Tritonlink by using the Major/ Minor Tool. For more information on how to declare, please visit our main Rady Advising page.

The accounting minor consists of seven core courses that cover the key accounting principles, processes and applications. In order to complete all minor requirements prior to graduation, students should begin the upper-division accounting minor course sequence (starting with MGT 131A) during the Winter Quarter of their Junior Year. Required courses include two lower-division courses and five upper-division courses. The Accounting minor may be combined with any Rady minor and/or business-related major. 

• Take all accounting minor classes for a letter grade.
• Earn at least a C- in each course used for the minor.
• At least five classes for the minor must be taken at UC San Diego.
• Finish the minor with an overall minor GPA of 2.0
• You can use two upper-division courses (a maximum of 8 units) to fulfill the requirements for a minor that have also been used to satisfy the requirements of a major. There is no limit for lower-division courses.
• You can't use an upper-division course to satisfy the requirements of more than one minor.
• Read the Academic Senate policy on minors (section E).

Find the list of tentative classes for the academic year on the undergraduate homepage.

To plan your Accounting Minor courses, please visit our Resources page to access the Rady Program Requirements Sheet.

Lower Division Courses

• MGT/ECON 4: Financial Accounting
• MGT 5: Managerial Accounting

Upper Division Courses

• MGT 131A: Intermediate Accounting A
  • Pre-requisite: MGT/ECON 4 & MGT 5
• MGT 131B: Intermediate Accounting B
  • Pre-requisite: MGT 131A
• MGT 132: Auditing
  • Pre-requisite: MGT 131B
• MGT 135: Federal Taxation — Companies
  • Pre-requisite: MGT 131B
• MGT 136: Advanced Accounting
  • Pre-requisite: MGT 132

Optional Elective Courses

(Not required for the accounting minor)

• MGT 133: Advanced Cost Accounting
• MGT 134: Federal Taxation — Individuals
• MGT 137: Financial Statement Analysis
• MGT 139: Accounting Information Systems
• MGT 147: Not-for-Profit Government Accounting
• MGT 148: Mergers and Acquisitions
• MGT 149: Topics in Accounting

Take all accounting minor classes for a letter grade of C- or better.

At least five classes from the minor must be taken at UC San Diego.

Finish the minor with an overall minor GPA of 2.0.

If you wish to excel in the Public Accounting profession, you may need to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). The CBA requires 225 quarter units (150 semester units) of college credit alongside a year's worth of professional experience in accounting.

• Link to State Licensure Requirements
• Link to California Licensure Requirements
• Link to California Board of Accountancy Website

A bachelor’s degree at UC San Diego generally consists of 180 quarter units but the CBA requires 225 quarter units. Units can be completed prior to graduation or after graduation at another institution. When planning to sit for the CPA exam, Rady strongly recommends scheduling an appointment with a Rady advisor by sending Rady a VAC message and utilizing two resources: (1) CPA Tip Sheet and (2) Self-Assessment Excel File.

In order to reach the required 225 quarter units, students desiring the CPA license will sometimes enroll in master’s degree program in accounting, such as the Rady Master of Professional Accountancy Program (MPAc), to earn the additional units required for a CPA license while satisfying the pre-licensure experience requirements. If you are at junior standing and would like early admission to Rady’s MPAc program, learn about the Junior MPAc entry option here.

In an increasingly complex world where global standards, regulations, and significant advances in technology are changing the way businesses operate from year to year, the Rady MPAc program may be your best choice to prepare the challenges that lie ahead.

For more information about the CPA educational requirements, please visit the Beyond Undergrad section of our Program FAQs.