Student recruitment: Is the profession ready for a comeback?

By Richard Rabicoff
MACPA Public Relations Manager

You'd think somebody broke a 10-year mirror back in 1991.

For an entire decade, the number of new recruits to the profession steadily dwindled, not just in Maryland but nationwide. The number of accounting majors fell precipitously, as did the number of high school students with even a nominal interest in the accounting field.

Most commentators agree that four factors contributed to the decline:

the image of the profession as dull and unfulfilling;
the lure of "cool" careers in IT;
the higher salaries in other business fields; and
the curriculum, both in content and quantity, aggravated by the 150-hour requirement.

The number of accounting majors plummeted at Maryland colleges and universities during this period. Between 1991 and 2001 the number of majors fell nearly 46 percent, while majors in computer and management information systems rose 350 percent. Finance climbed, too, by more than 72 percent. The types of students who traditionally entered accounting were defecting in droves to these other fields.

What impact does this decline have on the CPA profession in Maryland? It has created almost the equivalent of a drought, as employers struggle to find capable new recruits.

One important indicator is the number of candidates who sit for the exam. For comparative purposes, let's just isolate one representative string of data. The Board of Accountancy reported that the November 1991 exam included 2,479 candidates (nearly 500 of them passed). Five years later, the November aspirants had dropped to 2,344, but the number of passers rose to 515.

Then the bottom falls out, with only 170 new CPAs in November 2001, a drop of 67 percent. Now, according to unofficial statistics from the Board of Accountancy, only about 399 candidates will be sitting this November, and only 75 of those are first-timers. About 20 percent will pass any given exam. So we are looking at the neighborhood of 80 newly minted CPAs from the fall 2002 class.

You don't even have to do the math to recognize the crisis.

Nationwide, the oft-quoted figures from a 2001 AICPA survey tell a similarly dire story. In 2000, only 2 percent of college students majored in accounting, down from 4 percent in 1990. Only 1 percent of high school students planned to major in accounting, down from 4 percent in 1990. These are numbers worthy of any failed dot-com.

When the accounting scandals struck in late 2001, some thought the blow to the CPA's formerly pristine reputation would sound the death knell.

Please, say the tide is turning

But guess what? Enron and its ilk may actually have spurred renewed interest in the CPA. The image of the CPA as a back-office loner has given way to the perception — much closer to reality — of the CPA as an essential player in the definition, strategy and operation of a business. Teachers tell us that high school and college students are not only intrigued by the corporate hijinks but also curious about the role ethical CPAs can play in the success of an organization.

Is that renewed interest translating into healthier numbers for Maryland colleges and universities?

It is too soon to say for sure, but at some schools the upswing is on. Dr. Lamont Steedle, the accounting chair at Towson University, says, "Our enrollments in the accounting major are up 12 percent over last year. That's good news." Ali Sedaghat, who heads up the Loyola, program, says the number of accounting majors is up nearly 30 percent from last year.

"Maybe Enron, WorldCom and the other issues have made us 'interesting' to students," says Patrick Brady of Allegany College of Maryland. "I just compared our fall 2001 enrollments with this semester for comparable classes and we are up between 20 percent and 25 percent for our Accounting 201 courses (first semester of Principles). Anecdotally, seeing CFOs hauled off in handcuffs will add some mystique to the field. And my students thought accounting was boring."

University of Maryland University College, which specializes in evening and distance learning classes, reports that its accounting enrollments are up 19.5 percent compared with last fall. Brian Loughlin has presided over one of the few accounting programs that has seen a steady increase in numbers over the past few years.

It will be useful to see if there is any kind of corresponding decline in information technology majors this year. It might indicate that accounting is recapturing some of the prodigal children who defected during the high-tech boom years.

What can we do?

Even if student recruitment in Maryland is beginning to turn a corner, it will take years to get all the way around the block.

The AICPA has commissioned a much-publicized five-year, $25 million marketing campaign specifically targeting Generation Y students, ages 16 to 22. Its goal is to increase the number of individuals enrolled in accountancy programs nationwide. It could be a very long five years if state societies, their members and educators don't commit themselves to a dramatic turnaround.

The MACPA has aggressively attacked this problem over the past few years. The newly branded Tomorrow's CPA program (which includes high school students through those preparing for the exam) has grown from about 160 to more than 600 in just one year. CPA visits to high schools and colleges, an informative and captivating Web site (www.tomorrowscpa.org) and a slew of new outreach programs are designed to interest students in a profession that now, for the first time in a decade, may actually seem interesting to them.

Multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns can be a worthwhile investment, but they are futile without the avid support and activity on the part of those who stand to benefit the most. No one can better explain to students what CPAs do than CPAs themselves. CPAs who participate in the Tomorrow's CPA program as a classroom speaker or mentor are striking a significant blow on behalf of the profession.

Want to get involved? Contact us at students@macpa.org.

You could be part of a beautiful comeback.

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