Accounting is still hot

Strategic Finance, Feb, 2006

The evidence continues to mount that accounting is still a hot career path and that both management accountants and public accountants are in demand.

The latest statistics regarding accounting as a growing college and university major come from DePaul University's School of Accountancy & Management Information Systems in Chicago. They have seen a 37% increase in undergraduates majoring in accounting from last year to this. Accountancy is now the third most popular undergraduate major after psychology and communications.

Ray Whittington, interim dean of DePaul's College of Commerce and director of its accountancy school, attributes the jump to the new accounting controls and auditing requirements mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Many students say the trend is occurring because accounting offers career flexibility and is a good foundation for careers in all forms of business.

Tess Nyka, associate director of Career Services at DePaul, says that 130 accounting-related organizations are working with the center to recruit students this academic year.