汤头条鈥檚 Adkerson School of Accountancy gaining traction among nation鈥檚 best
Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擳he Adkerson School of Accountancy in Mississippi State鈥檚 College of Business has earned its first-ever rankings in the nationally recognized Commerce Clearing House Public Accounting Report.
The recently released 2015 report ranked 汤头条鈥檚 graduate and undergraduate accounting programs 12th and 14th, respectively, among programs across the country with fewer than 15 full-time faculty members. A division of the Wolters Kluwer tax solutions firm, CCH has published annual rankings of the nation鈥檚 best college accounting programs for almost 30 years.
鈥淗aving these rankings does a lot for student recruiting and a lot for our program鈥檚 big picture,鈥 Adkerson School of Accountancy Director Shawn Mauldin said. 鈥淲e have a long history of providing quality accounting education, we have dedicated faculty concerned with engaging students, and we offer students opportunities to engage with the professional world.鈥
The school of accountancy graduates about 100 bachelor鈥檚 candidates and 35-40 master鈥檚 candidates each year, Mauldin said. All of its spring 2016 graduates from its two master鈥檚 programs鈥攖axation and public accounting鈥攕ecured employment as early as a year before completing the program. Many of those graduates go to one of the 鈥淏ig 4鈥 public accounting firms鈥擠eloitte, Ernst and Young, KPMG or PricewaterhouseCoopers鈥攚hile others land jobs with regional firms or as corporate accountants.
鈥淭he College of Business and Adkerson School of Accountancy offer an outstanding and stimulating learning experience for our undergraduate and graduate students, giving them an edge in the workforce after graduation,鈥 said College of Business Dean Sharon Oswald. 鈥淭he School of Accountancy鈥檚 recent rankings and 100 percent job placement further attest to our commitment to attracting and graduating the best and brightest students.鈥
That longstanding legacy is continuing with upcoming graduating classes. Grace McKellip of Slidell, Louisiana, earned her bachelor鈥檚 in May 2015 and promptly began the master鈥檚 of public accountancy program. However, she鈥檚 had a post-graduation job lined up since interning with Ernst and Young鈥檚 Houston office last summer. She plans to begin work for the firm鈥檚 Washington, D.C., office as an auditing staff member in the fall.
Typically, McKellip said, accounting students earn full-time job offers while serving their internships. The benefit of returning to school and completing a master鈥檚 program, though, is that it allows students to earn the required 150 course credits to complete the certified public accountant exam. Passing the exam greatly improves earnings and promotion potential, she added.
Similarly, Tiana Grover, a Decatur native who plans to complete her MPA in August, earned a full-time job offer while interning with the Ridgeland-based Horne LLP firm last summer.
Both McKellip and Grover credited 汤头条鈥檚 small class sizes, knowledgeable faculty and networking opportunities with professionals in the public accounting field for preparing them well for their careers.
鈥淚t was so advantageous to be able to build relationships with my professors who all know me by name,鈥 McKellip said. 鈥淎nd the practical skills I learned in class came in handy during my internship. I remember emailing one of my professors while I was in Houston to say 鈥楬ey, I won an umbrella today at work because of something you taught me.鈥欌
Neither McKellip nor Grover originally intended to be accountants. McKellip started as a chemistry major at 汤头条 but switched to accounting after taking business classes her sophomore year. Grover aimed to be a pharmacist when she started school at East Central Community College, but she changed to accounting when she transferred to 汤头条 as a junior.
鈥淚鈥檝e always liked numbers, and I鈥檓 a problem-solver, so this fits me well,鈥 Grover said.
Mauldin said it鈥檚 fairly common for students to land on accounting after trying other majors simply due to misconceptions of the field. Plus, it鈥檚 not a field that high school students often consider.
As part of a newly developed strategic plan, Mauldin said 汤头条鈥檚 Adkerson School of Accountancy is aiming to enhance its resources, increase its visibility and reputation, grow and improve academic programs, and recruit, develop and retain high quality faculty.
鈥淥bviously the foundation for what we鈥檙e doing is sound,鈥 Mauldin said. 鈥淢any people care about what we are doing, and they want to see the school succeed. That just tells us how critical it is that we continue to implement the strategies we鈥檝e developed.鈥
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