Accountancy

Building on the strengths of its 150-hour program, alliances with public accounting firms, and student placement, the School of Accountancy intends to enhance its national reputation to “Top 10” status.

Established in the late 1970s as the first school of accountancy at a major university, MU’s School of Accountancy remains a leader nationally and aspires to greater prominence. The graduate accountancy program is ranked 14th nationally according to the Public Accounting Report’s annual survey of accounting professors. In the past five years, MU graduates have received both the highest and the third highest scores in the nation on the CPA exam out of 50,000 test takers. In 2003, MU students led the nation with regards to first-time pass rate on the CPA exam.

This evidence of quality explains why MU accountancy graduates are highly sought by the best firms in the nation, with nearly 100 percent placed in jobs by graduation. “I expect we could place most of them two or three times each,” proclaims Tom Howard, Joseph A. Silvoso Director of the School of Accountancy.   Howard says that graduates are actively recruited by the “Big Four” CPA firms and some students take positions with local and regional firms.

Mark Gingrich (BS BA ’06, M Acc ’06), who is attending law school at the University of Iowa, says he had two elite internships with BDO Seidman LLP – an audit internship in London, and a tax internship in New York City. “Most of my friends had internships, and all who wanted positions had offers by December of their final year,” Gingrich says.

“Being designated as a strategic priority of the college is a validation of what we have been doing for many years and certainly is a motivation to do even better in the future,” Howard says. The school’s objectives focus on continuing excellence in faculty teaching and research, placement of graduates, student performance on professional examinations, and controlled expansion of the master’s program.

Last Edited: 3/10/2008