Strategies for Attracting Students to Accounting Programs

There’s a HUGE gap between what people think accounting is and what it actually is. And it’s costing us smart, curious people who’d be great at this work. It’s not great when 75% of CPAs are set to reach retirement age in the next 10 years and accounting majors are down nearly 8% year over year. How do we fix it? Here’s where I’d start: 1. Reframe the job Let’s stop selling accounting as “math plus spreadsheets.” That hasn’t been the job for years. It’s building workflows. Using AI. Thinking strategically. Collaborating with different teams. The people thriving in this field are solving complex problems with automation, systems, and business acumen. Let’s talk about that. 2. Bundle it with STEM We’re long overdue for this shift. Accountants were early adopters of Excel, we’re already using APIs, and many are writing formulas more complex than what you’ll find in comp sci programs. Come to think of it, accountants were also early users of the calculator. Put us in the same category as engineering and data. That’s how you attract a different kind of student. 3. Introduce it earlier Most kids graduate high school without knowing what a balance sheet is. That’s wild. Accounting 101 should be part of the core curriculum. Not just to create more accountants, but to create financially literate adults. And for the ones who do get interested? That’s how you unlock a new, more diverse pipeline. Bottom line: We need more accountants. To get there, we need more people who *actually* want to be accountants.

The conversation around how to attract more students to accounting continues. Some suggestions hit the mark, while others fall short. However, the #1 factor that often gets overlooked is this: professors need to invest in their students. That’s it. Nothing is more impactful. What does that investment look like? It’s about sending emails of encouragement, meeting with students one-on-one, and highlighting the incredible opportunities in accounting. In the short term, students can secure well-paying jobs with great training and learning. In the long term, their careers can take many exciting directions. I can point to a list of alumni who are now firm partners, CEOs, CFOs, Chief Accounting Officers, and entrepreneurs. Take this picture, for example. I’m teaching a tax course filled with high-achieving students. I handed back the first exam today and these five were at the top. NONE of them entered college as accounting majors. But through encouragement from profs in our department—comments like, "You're doing great in this course, if you enjoy it, consider taking another"—they shifted their focus to accounting. Success in the early courses was important, but all of them cited the encouragement from professors as a major reason for their decision. If you want a thriving program, it’s simple: invest in your students. That makes all the difference. Congrats to Jon Howe, Luke Griffith, Owen Ping, Olivia LaTour, and Reagan Joseph!

Colleges and Universities need to to do a better job at highlighting the entrepreneurial opportunities that are available in the Accounting Profession! Most students view accounting courses as boring and incredibly difficult. I personally have witnessed many of my classmates and friends drop accounting because it was too difficult or not exciting enough. Students are also starting to hear horror stories from their peers about what the Big 4 is really like. 70 hour work weeks and low pay are not exciting the next generation to go into accounting. So what is the solution to this? How can we excite the next generation and get a new pipeline of young people into the Accounting Profession? We need to focus on Entrepreneurship! Most of the young people out there today want to make an impact early on, and in the long run they want financial and career freedom. Lets show them that accounting can do this for you! ➡ We need classes and courses that teach students how to start their own firm or at least show them the path to get there someday! ➡ We need firm owners in the classroom showing students how great their life is because they started a firm! These people need to be those who have gotten their Life-Work Balance back! ➡ Accounting software and tech companies need to be in the classroom showing students how exciting the next few years look for firm owners! ➡ Students need to know about the impending shortage of accountants and be shown just how non-risky it is to be an owner of a small accounting firm. They need to be informed about the immense opportunities that await them! If we want to get more young people excited about Accounting, we have to start pushing the entrepreneurial side! The opportunities are literally endless in the accounting profession right now, and yet most students do not even know about it! #accounting #CPA #students #education