Trends in Accounting Student Characteristics: Results from a 15-Year Longitudinal Study at FSA Schools

Abstract

This article updates the results from a continuing longitudinal study of characteristics of accounting students, sponsored by the Federation of Schools of Accountancy (FSA) since 1991. Specifically, it reports trends in student characteristics between 2000 and 2006 and discusses their implications to the accounting profession and to accounting education. Measures of student quality continue to rise. The percentage of minority students in undergraduate accounting programs increased; however, no similar increase occurred at the graduate level. There was a drop in the percentage of female students in graduate programs. More students are deciding to major in accounting later in their academic careers, with fewer making the decision in high school and more deciding during their sophomore years of college. Job availability is increasingly the most influential factor in students' decisions to major in accounting. Fewer students are taking the GMAT exam, and fewer master's students are joining Beta Alpha Psi. More students are completing internships. Although more are pursuing graduate education, fewer are planning on M.B.A. or Ph.D. degrees. Interest in careers in public accounting is high and increasing, while interest in industry is dropping.