Educators give high marks to Notre Dame accountancy programs

Accountancy programs at the University of Notre Dame continue to rank among the best in the nation, according to a recent survey of more than 1,550 accountancy professors from schools across the country.

The Public Accounting Report’s 27th annual Professor’s Survey ranked Notre Dame’s undergraduate program No. 4 among the top 25 schools, while the Master of Science in Accountancy placed sixth among the top 25 graduate programs.

The rankings were determined by the educators’ estimates of which programs consistently turn out students capable of attaining partner status at some point in their careers. Public Accounting Report (PAR) is an independent quarterly newsletter for accounting professionals.

“We’ve seen our students become leaders in a diverse number of fields – partners in CPA firms, as well as key executive positions in a wide range of organizations,” said Fred Mittelstaedt, chair of the accountancy department at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. “Our goal is to provide students with a solid education in core accounting principles while continually refreshing the curricula with current industry issues. And consistent with Notre Dame’s mission, the program emphasizes professional responsibility and personal integrity throughout the curriculum.”

The top three schools in the undergraduate ranking were the University of Texas, the University of Illinois and Brigham Young University. Top graduate programs included BYU, Illinois and Texas.

Mittelstaedt further noted that accounting remains a strong career choice, with Notre Dame students heavily recruited by the Big 4 accounting firms, which top BusinessWeek’s list of best employers. Accounting professionals are even more in demand now because of the growing public call for business accountability, Mittelstaedt said, particularly given the business scandals and banking crises in recent years.

The top 100 accounting firms have posted double-digit growth for three years running, according to the latest PAR national survey of the highest revenue accounting firms.

In addition to the PAR survey, the Notre Dame undergraduate accountancy program was rated No. 3 by BusinessWeek’s 2008 ranking of undergraduate specialty programs nationally and No. 7 by the 2009 College Report of U.S. News and World Report. The Wall Street Journal ranked the Notre Dame accountancy program ninth in the country in its most recent (Year 7) rankings.

###

/news_and_events/news_articles/article/880/educators-give-high-marks-to-notre-dame-accountancy-programs