Lori Buza, like anyone else in higher education, has heard all the quips about underwater basket-weaving classes — or, the seemingly unnecessary or even absurd filler courses taken for college credits at universities.
She has to admit that, when it comes to the path would-be accountants have to take to secure their licensure and a spot in a profession hurting for young talent, the joke has been on them.
The school where she’s chair and professor of accounting and business law, Saint Peter’s University’s Frank J. Guarini School of Business, laid the groundwork for accounting students to finish out the credits they need for entry to the industry through working at a firm, akin to a medical doctor’s residency program. Other local universities are embracing that approach.
The reason is this: Accounting students need 150 college credits for CPA licensure. The problem? Most undergraduate accounting programs only actually give you 120 credits. Covering the remaining 30 credits, for some students, meant they’d enter into a master’s program.
“The problem is, that’s costly, and not everyone can pay for that,” Buza said. “So, students could take something like basket-weaving if they wanted to for those credits. It didn’t really matter. But, it’s a much better idea to have these students learn from behind actual accounting professionals within firms, where they can not only develop necessary skills — but get paid for it, too.”
That’s why Saint Peter’s University went to the state’s Board of Accountancy to get approval for a first-of-its-kind program that would have students complete their final credits by working full-time as accountants. Buza chaired the task force for that pilot program, which was created in partnership with “Big Four” accounting firm PwC.
Now entering its third cohort, the annual program is proving beneficial for both universities and accounting firms, according to Kimberly Reeve, dean of the Guarini School of Business.
“It’s attracting accounting students to the school, and attracting potential recruits for PwC,” she said, adding that it’s only a small step toward addressing the larger issues in a depleted accounting talent pipeline. “Typically, students entering this program are already interested in a career in accounting. Obviously, there are not enough of those to begin with.”
Buza said one of the advantages of offering a path to being a CPA that involves less educational expenditures and the rigorous GPA demands of master’s programs is that it’s potentially more inviting to accountants from diverse backgrounds. That’s another long-running priority of industry groups such as the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants. Access to a more diverse talent pool was also attractive to PwC, Buza noted.
The feedback from students that have participated so far has been great, Buza said. She jokes with the students that they’re making more money at these firms than some of their own professors are.
On PwC’s side, the program has been just as well-received.
“Based on the success of this, they’re looking to expand — even outside the region — to other universities nationally,” Reeve said. “There’s always an opportunity for us to build on this as well in the future. We’ve even had conversations with banks about similar programs to make sure students are trained in the banking sector.”
Theresa Richardson, Withum’s chief talent officer, said the firm had been in initial conversation with Saint Peter’s University about the work-for-credit program, as well. They ended up linking up with Seton Hall University, where the firm’s CEO is a board member, to do the same.
Richardson echoed the sentiment that there’s a need to address the fact that accounting isn’t the sought-after career path it once was. Firms, in light of the diminished number of students taking the CPA exam, are hungry for any alternate route to drive recruits to their business.
“And, when you consider these students are enjoying all the benefits of regular staff — as well as us paying for their CPA materials, registration fees and giving them a bonus if they pass the exam — it’s really a win-win for everyone,” Richardson said.
Danielle DiMeglio, director of graduate accounting programs and a senior faculty associate in accounting for Seton Hall’s Stillman School of Business, said that beats what a significant number of accounting students have traditionally done: Taking a mix of throwaway gym courses or similar to cover their final college credits.
“Instead of that, these students are experiencing what it’s like to work at firms and all the niches in them,” she said. “They’re put in rotations where they get exposed to a lot of different people and areas of accounting. … And this program really speaks to this generation of accountants, who are all about experiences and doing things first-hand.”
Richardson emphasized that element of the program. If the apprentices they take on at Withum want to do nonprofit tax work, they’ll have a chance to try it — and potentially stay in that line of work long-term.
“Chances are, if you enjoy what you’re doing, you’re going to be more successful at it,” she said. “The students are getting to see the firm from all different angles before making a choice on what they want to do.”
She added that one of the best endorsements she can give Withum’s partnership with Seton Hall is this: She wishes it was an option for her when she was in school.
All the parties involved express that they anticipate these work-for-credit programs to continue to grow in coming years.
As for whether it’ll mean more students want to chase an accounting career, Mary Kate Naatus, assistant provost and dean of continuing education and professional studies at Seton Hall, expects the current cohort of students’ interest is already begetting more interest.
“In fact, for the capstone project (of our students), they put together a presentation on accounting for the future that was geared toward high school students who wanted to learn about accounting,” she said. “So, we got a group together in July and our CPA apprentices delivered a highly interactive and interesting two-day workshop on accounting as a career path.
“The students felt like they made an impact in inspiring others to pursue accounting. And doing that made them feel more strongly about the profession they were entering themselves.”
