the study, and which were responsible for the subsequent drive to increase the educational requirements from 120 to 150 hours, were cited as being: “The profession is changing, expanding and, as a result, becoming increasingly complex.” “Declining enrollments in accounting programs indicate that the profession is becoming less attractive to students.” “Today’s business world is more dynamic and complex than ever before.” “Advancing technology, proliferating regulations, globalization of commerce, and complex transactions make the environment in which public accountants practice extremely challenging.” “Many accounting programs have experienced declines in enrollments, and questions are being raised regarding the quality of accounting graduates.” “The supply and demand imbalance is a very real problem for the profession.” Does any of this sound familiar as we discuss today’s pipeline challenges? As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The study’s conclusion at that time, of course, was that there was a need to increase the educational requirements, stating education for the accounting profession must produce graduates who have acquired a broad array of skills and knowledge, are focused on communication skills (formal and informal, written and verbal), possess strong intellectual skills (creative problem-solving in a consultative process), and bring interpersonal acumen to their professional work (e.g., management skills and leadership competencies). The study emphasized that passing the CPA examination should not be the goal of accounting education, rather the focus of education should be on developing analytical and conceptual thinking. Back in 1990, many of us believed this to be true, resulting in the increase in the education credit hour requirement from 120 to 150. Bachelor’s Masters Enrollment Source: IPEDS 1.1 Trends in accounting degree completions – bachelor’s and master’s | 1994–2020 Master’s 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 45,469 43,502 41,852 39,433 38,949 36,666 34,751 34,719 36,324 38,804 41,208 43,689 46,337 47,860 50,803 55,002 56,129 57,483 56,650 55,734 56,397 56,715 55,963 55,377 53,991 52,481 Academic Count Count year 6,153 5,904 6,190 5,923 6,204 6,428 6,622 7,340 8,458 10,008 11,357 12,247 12,931 13,842 15,303 17,426 19,956 20,865 21,952 22,403 22,777 23,139 22,949 23,141 22,323 20,442 51,622 49,406 48,042 45,356 45,153 43,094 41,373 42,059 44,782 48,812 52,565 55,936 59,268 61,702 66,106 72,428 76,085 78,348 78,602 78,137 79,174 79,854 78,912 78,518 76,314 72,923 BS + MS Total Since the 150-credit hour requirement became effective in most jurisdictions in the year 2000, these have been the trends in accounting degree completions. 9 www.nescpa.org
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