AICPA, State CPA Societies Respond to Ph.D. Needs

A dearth of Ph.D. professors of accounting casts a pall on what would otherwise be deemed good news for the profession: this year has seen a significant increase in enrollment in accounting programs at colleges and universities nationwide.

The problem: accredited accounting programs typically require roughly 50 percent of full-time accountancy faculty have a doctoral degree, and as enrollment spikes, there must be a corresponding increase in Ph.D.s.

This hasn't materialized.

But the AICPA is looking to change that with its new Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) program, intended “to solve the vexing shortage of Ph.D.s in accounting, auditing and tax faculty at our nation’s universities,” the organization said in its 2009 annual report.

The program is assisted by financial support of more than 71 CPA firms, 44 CPA societies and other donors, including the NYSSCPA, which made a $50,000 commitment to the program.

Students participating in the program must provide a written statement committing to a career transition into teaching and must have the potential to gain admission to a doctoral program at one or more of the participating universities.

Applications are reviewed by a selection committee, and those chosen attend an orientation conference. Following that conference, a final selection step meets to pare down the pool of candidates and provide a short list of alternates.

But this isn’t meant to be a purely educational track, according to NYSSCPA President-elect Peggy A. Wood. “They’re really looking for people who have worked in the field. You can’t just do it from book learning in our profession,” she said. “It has to be a combination of fieldwork and book learning.”

An NYSSCPA white paper on precertification education, adopted by the Society’s Board of Directors in 2008, also addressed the shortage of Ph.D.s in accountancy, suggesting as a potential solution that universities change the requirement for professorship, allowing educators with practical experience and no doctoral degree a chance at more than just an adjunct position.

Read more about this in the March 1 issue of The Trusted Professional.