Two New Accounting Degrees Offered at Eberhardt School of Business

In the past few years, there has been a tremendous surge in demand for four-year and graduate degrees in accounting. The Eberhardt School of Business at University of the Pacific is responding.
 
A new Master of Accounting and a new Bachelor of Science in Accounting will be launched in August, 2013, building on the excellent reputation of Pacific’s existing accounting and business programs, while also meeting California’s new requirements that accounting professionals have a minimum of 150 hours of education before qualifying for a CPA license.
 
“These new programs were designed with an intentional focus on students,” said Lewis R. Gale, dean and professor of Business, Eberhardt School of Business. “Both programs were developed to increase employment opportunities for our students, expand life-time earnings potential of our students, and maintain our high credibility of student talent in accounting.”
 
“To meet these goals, the new programs were benchmarked against the best accounting programs in the country, and we are confident that our accounting programs will continue to prepare our students for both CPA and non-CPA career pathways.”
 
Part of the reason for the increase in demand for credentialed accounting degrees is due to changes in California law. Starting Jan. 1, 2014, the state will require a total of 150 hours for the educational requirement for CPA Licensure. But other reasons for the demand include stricter rules and regulations on the finance and accounting industries that have been instituted since the start of the recession. In a 2012 report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted a 16 percent growth in accounting positions in the United States through 2020.
 
Under the new programs, students will complete 30 hours of graduate courses in accounting and related business studies to earn a master’s degree.  The new bachelor’s degree requires completion of 128 hours.  Students can streamline the process by earning the bachelor’s and master’s simultaneously in the new 5-year, 150 hour program.
 
The Eberhardt School of Business was established in 1977 and since then has been recognized numerous times as one of the best business schools in the country, including in the 2013 edition of the Princeton Review’s “Best Business Schools” list. The Eberhardt School also serves as home to the Business Forecasting Center, the Westgate Center for Management Development, and the Institute for Family Business.
 
For more information about the Eberhardt School of Business, visit http://business.pacific.edu.