MS Tax #1

The MS Taxation program is ranked at the top of “Best Masters in Taxation Programs” by Best Value Schools. It is the second time that this program has been highly ranked by Best Value Schools, having been previously honored in 2017.

MS Tax will celebrate its 35th year this fall. Since 1986 the MS Tax program at UAlbany has provided accountants with tax expertise, thanks to Enrico Petri, former chair of the accounting department, who established the program. Petri also doubled enrollment in the accounting department and he ranked 7th in the nation in publications in the premier accounting journal, The Accounting Review. The Enrico Petri Scholarship, created in 2008 to honor the popular professor, supports an MS Tax student.

Tom Collura has held the reins of the successful degree program since 2000, moonlighting from his day job, partner at the Hodgson Russ law firm.

“We are very pleased to be recognized by Best Value Schools as the #1 Masters of Science in Taxation program in the country and grateful for the vision of the late Prof. Enrico Petri, who started this program - one of the first in the country. We continue to be proud of our graduates who are leaders in the field of taxation in public accounting, industry and government service,” said Collura, who is named among the Best Lawyers in America (Tax Law, Trusts & Estates) and was honored with the Dean W. Warren Haynes Memorial Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching in 2017.

Tax courses are taught by the pros.  Besides Collura, working tax attorneys Jennifer Boll and Andy Oppenheimer, along with former IRS agent James Manico, bring real world experience to their classes.

Accounting Chair Ingrid Fisher is proud of the work of the instructors and of the graduates of the MS Tax program.

"The MS in Taxation program graduates approximately 35 students annually. Most go on to enter taxation practices. Program graduates routinely report that their education has prepared them to immediately perform at high levels earning the praise of their supervisors," she said.

Director of Accounting Programs Mark Hughes, who earned his MS Tax degree from UAlbany, sees the results. “The MS-Tax program provides our students with an amazing background. It’s a pleasure for me to watch individuals enter as graduate students and emerge as well-prepared tax specialists,” he said.

One example of how MS Tax students hit the ground running is Colin Gerner ’14, ’15, now a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers and a member of the School of Business accounting advisory board. He said, "Collura's class and teaching style has helped me wonderfully in my career. I was able to differentiate myself from a technical research standpoint early on at PwC." 

Soon after graduation, he recognized the value of his degree. "I started at PwC this week, along with three others. They are all JDs and went to respectable law schools. I was given a large research assignment today to be finished by the following morning.  I just submitted it and the manager already came back overly impressed. Thanks for making me look good - much appreciated!” he wrote in an email to Collura in 2015.