CPA Pipeline is Growing

If California is any indication, the demand for CPAs will ease as more students graduate from accounting programs and gain experience in the real world.

With six weeks remaining before its May 1 application deadline, the master's programs in accounting and taxation at the University of Southern California's Leventhal School of Accounting had received 430 applications, a 36 percent increase from last year. Meanwhile, applications to Leventhal's accounting masters program rose more than 40 percent. Undergraduate enrollment now stands at more than 300 students, a slight increase over last year but significantly above the before Sarbanes-Oxley became law.

At the Craig School of Business at California State University - Fresno, the number of undergraduate and graduate accounting majors is also up.

Leventhal will accept between 130 and 140 applicants this year, up slightly from last year to address rising interest. Competition is fierce for acceptance. Applicants must have solid grounding in accounting and business, as well as good grades. Required classes include introduction to financial accounting and management accounting, finance and basic economics. An increasing number of Chinese and other foreign students have enrolled in recent years as many large companies have expanded their interests globally and other governments have bulked up their corporate oversight laws.

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Solution to CPA Crunch is On-Campus [JITM]