The effect of the 150 hour requirement on the national number of bachelor of accounting degrees awarded

... permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission THE EFFECT OF THE 150- HOUR REQUIREMENT ON THE NATIONAL NUMBER OF BACHELOR OF ACCOUNTING DEGREES AWARDED Troy... the 150- hour requirement has had no affect on the number of accounting graduates before the adoption of the 150 credit -hour requirement compared to after the adoption of the 150 credit -hour requirement. .. copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission THE EFFECT OF THE 150- HOUR REQUIREMENT ON THE NATIONAL NUMBER OF BACHELOR OF ACCOUNTING DEGREES AWARDED Troy Luh, B.B.A., M.Acc.,

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ProQuest Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE EFFECT OF THE 150-HOUR REQUIREMENT ON THE NATIONAL NUMBER OF BACHELOR OF ACCOUNTING DEGREES AWARDED Troy Luh, B.B.A., M.Acc., M.S.V.S. A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School o f Saint Louis University in Partial Fulfillment o f the Requirements for the Degree o f Doctor o f Philosophy 2003 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3102911 Copyright 2003 by Luh, Troy Vaun All rights reserved. ___ __ UMI UMI Microform 3102911 Copyright 2003 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. c Copyright by Troy V. Luh ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2003 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE EFFECT OF THE 150-HOUR REQUIREMENT ON THE NATIONAL NUMBER OF BACHELOR OF ACCOUNTING DEGREES AWARDED Troy Luh, B.B.A., M.Acc., M.S.V.S. A Digest Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Saint Louis University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor o f Philosophy 2003 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DIGEST The purpose of this paper was to determine the effect of the 150-hour requirement on the number of accounting graduates. Research indicates that there has been a decline in the number of accounting graduates over the past 10 years. Some accounting practitioners and educators believe that adoption of the 150hour requirement, which amounts to an additional year of coursework, has had a substantial negative impact on the number of accounting graduates. This research analyzed graduation data from accounting programs in states that had adopted the 150-hour requirement where three years of graduation data was available before and after the adoption of the requirement. This research also analyzed data from institutions that have not adopted any legislation relating to the 150-hour requirement to determine if there is any correlation between institutions in adopting and non-adopting states. This research indicated, based on a two-tailed t-test, that there was a significant difference in the three-year average number of accounting graduates before and after the adoption o f the 150-hour requirement. However, further analysis indicates that there was already a downward trend in adopting institutions before the adoption o f the 150-hour requirement. The research also showed that the percentage of accounting graduates remained at a relatively constant percentage o f total business graduates over the eight-year period analyzed. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 There was also a significant correlation between the trend in the number of accounting graduates from institutions in adopting states and institutions in non­ adopting states. In fact, in some cases the decline in accounting graduates was more significant in institutions in non-adopting states. The total number of accounting graduates from all reporting institutions nationwide (totaling more than 1,500 institutions) also showed significant decline. Other studies have indicated that the decline in interest in accounting programs is related more to the students’ perception of accounting programs more than the 150-hour requirement. More research needs to be done to determine what factors affect a student's choice to enter the accounting profession. There are already programs such as the American Institute o f Certified Public Accounting’s Champion Program (AICPA), which encourages a student membership and participation in AICPA sponsored events. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. COMMITTEE IN CHARGE OF CANDIDACY: Professor Richard Breslin Chairperson and Advisor Associate Professor Gerard A. Fowler Associate Professor Dorothy D. Miles ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my late mother Maureen J. Luh, whose great sense o f humor and indomitable spirit will be with me always, and to my father, Elbert G. Luh, Jr., for his honesty, integrity, and acceptance of whatever path I chose. With love, to my wife, Katherine, my best friend and the most beautiful person I know. Thank you for your patience, kindness, understanding, and love. To my “guys,” Ryan, Matthew, and Keith, I love you to the end o f the universe, and back. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There have been many people that have influenced me during my professional and academic career. I have had many excellent teachers that have helped shape my thoughts, ideas and teaching style. I would like to recognize a few of them individually. David Williams, a fellow graduate student that encouraged the idea of completing a Ph.D.. Professor Richard Hammar at Evangel University who encouraged his students to view learning as “Sutter’s Mill”, worth great riches. Phillip Harsha, Ph.D., at Southwest Missouri State University for his leadership, friendship and jump shot. Harvey Wallace, partner at Brown Smith Wallace, L.L.C., for his great flexibility and understanding. Donna Beck Smith for her encouragement and insightful edits. My father, Elbert G. Luh, Jr. and late Mother, Maureen J. Luh, for encouraging me to do my best and accepting whatever outcome. Dorothy Miles, Ph.D., a member of my dissertation committee, whose help included valuable technical expertise. Gerard Fowler, Ph.D., also on my committee, for helping and counseling me during a large part o f this program. A special thanks to Richard Breslin, Ph.D., the chair of my dissertation committee at St. Louis University, who took an extra interest in my career and provided to me extraordinary leadership and friendship. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Finally. I would like to acknowledge my family. My three boys, who energize me after a hard day o f work and school with many hugs and kisses. My wife, Katherine, for her countless hours editing my paper, listening to my ideas, and supporting my dream. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES.....................................................................................................ix LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................xi CHAPTER 1: HISTORY OF THE 150-HOUR REQUIREMENT.........................1 Introduction............................................................................................................1 Legislation............................................................................................................. 4 Rules......................................................................................................................5 The AICPA’s Desired Result............................................................................... 7 Decline in Accounting Graduates........................................................................9 Statement o f Hypothesis..................................................................................... 14 Research Questions............................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE...................................... 18 The 150-Hour Background.................................................................................18 Background......................................................................................................... 20 Other Developments...........................................................................................22 Accounting Enrollment Trends.......................................................................... 24 Specific Desired Attributes................................................................................ 30 Professional Demeanor.......................................................................................31 Problem Solving and Decision Making.............................................................32 Interaction........................................................................................................... 33 Leadership........................................................................................................... 34 Communication................................................................................................... 34 Project Management...........................................................................................35 Leverage Technology to Develop and Enhance Personal Competencies 36 Implementation o f Desired Skills Into Curriculum.......................................... 37 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY....................................................39 Operational Definitions...................................................................................... 40 Participants.......................................................................................................... 41 Instruments.......................................................................................................... 42 Design................................................................................................................. 44 Procedure............................................................................................................ 47 Data Analysis......................................................................................................48 Summary............................................................................................................. 49 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS.................................51 Data Gathering.................................................................................................... 51 Research Question 1 ...........................................................................................51 Adopting Institutions.......................................................................................... 52 Research Qestion 2 .............................................................................................54 Non-Adopting Institutions................................................................................. 54 Research Question 3 ........................................................................................... 54 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Accounting Graduates Trend in Adopting Institutions.....................................56 Accounting Degrees by Adopting State.............................................................63 Research Question 4 .......................................................................................... 66 Total Bachelor’s Degrees Trend........................................................................66 Research Question 5 .......................................................................................... 75 Bachelor’s of Business Degrees Trend..............................................................77 Bachelor’s of Business Degrees by State...........................................................83 Research Question 6 ...........................................................................................87 Percentage Trend in Accounting Degrees to Total Degrees.............................87 Research Question 7 .......................................................................................... 92 Percentage Trend in Accounting Degrees to Total Business Degrees.............93 Research Question 8 .......................................................................................... 98 Comparison of Three-Year Average Before and After 150............................. 98 Two-Tailed t-test.................................................................................................99 Research Question 9 ......................................................................................... 110 Comparison of 3-Year Percentage of Total Graduates Before and After 150........................................................................................ I l l The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.................................................................... 111 Research Question 1 0 ....................................................................................... 120 Comparison of Three-Year Percentage of Total Business Graduates Before and After 150........................................................................................ 121 SPSS Tables.......................................................................................................122 Research Question 1 1 ....................................................................................... 130 Overall Trend in Accounting Graduates Over the Eight-Year Period........... 130 Research Question 1 2 ....................................................................................... 136 Total Undergraduate Degrees Trend................................................................ 136 Research Question 1 3 ....................................................................................... 138 Percentage of Accounting Graduates to Total Graduates in Non-Adopting States..................................................................................... 144 Research Question 1 4 ....................................................................................... 144 Business Degrees Trend in Non-Adopting States............................................149 Research Question 1 5 ....................................................................................... 155 Percentage of Accounting Degrees to Business Degrees in Non-Adopting States..................................................................................... 155 Research Question 1 6 ....................................................................................... 160 Correlation of Accounting Graduates in Adopting and Non-Adopting States.................................................................................. 161 Research Question 1 7 ....................................................................................... 165 Correlation o f Business Graduates in Adopting and Non-Adopting States... 167 Research Question 1 8 ....................................................................................... 167 National Accounting Graduates Trend Over the Eight-Year Period............. 167 CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS............................................171 Summary............................................................................................................171 Recommendations..............................................................................................178 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................... 181 VITA AUCTORIS.................................................................................................. 187 v iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES Table 1: States That Have Adopted the 150-Hour Requirement from June 1994 through April 1997................................................................. 53 Table 2: States That Have Not Enacted Any Legislation for the 150-Hour Requirement.....................................................................................55 Table 3: Total Accounting Bachelor’s Degrees from Adopting Institutions 1991-92 to 1998-99...................................................... 57 Table 4: Total Number of Bachelor’s o f Accounting Degrees Conferred by State in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah from 1992 to 1999............................................................................................. 64 Table 5: Total Bachelor’s Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 To 1998-99....................................................................................... 68 Table 6: Total Number of Bachelor’s Degrees Conferred in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah from 1992 to 1999..................... 74 Table 7: Total Business Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99........................................................................................ 78 Table 8: Total Number of Bachelor's of Business Degrees Conferred in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah from 1992 to 1999.....85 Table 9: Percentage of Bachelor of Accounting Degrees for Adopting Universities as a Percentage o f Total Institutional Degrees 1991-92 to 1998-99..........................................................................88 Table 10: Percentage of Accounting Degrees as a Percentage of Total Business Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 ........................................................................................ 94 Table 11: Three-Year Average Number of Bachelor’s o f Accounting Degrees Before and After Adoption of 150-Hour Requirement for Adopting States.............................................................................. 100 Table 12: Comparison of Three-Year Average Number of Accounting Graduates Before Adoption o f the 150-Hour Requirement to Three-Year After the 150-Hour Requirement............................... 106 Table 13: Three-Year Average Percentage o f Bachelor’s o f Accounting Degrees to Total Undergraduate Degrees Conferred Before and After Adoption of the 150-Hour Rule for Adopting Institutions. 112 ix Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 14: Comparison of the Three-Year Average Percentage of Accounting Graduates to Total Undergraduates Before the Adoption o f the 150-Hour Requirement to the Three-Year Average Percentage After the Adoption of the 150-Hour Requirement Based on Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test......................................................... 117 Table 15: Three-Year Average Percentage o f Bachelor’s o f Accounting Degrees to Total Undergraduate Business Degrees Before and After Adoption of 150-Hour Requirement................................... 122 Table 16: Comparison of the Three-Year Average Percentage of Accounting Graduates to Total Business Undergraduates Before the Adoption of the 150-Hour Requirement to the Three-Year Average After the Adoption of the 150-Hour Requirement Based on Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test...........................................................................127 Table 17: Bachelor’s of Accounting Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99.........................................................................132 Table 18: Total Institutional Bachelor’s Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99.........................................................................140 Table 19: Percentage of Bachelor’s o f Accounting Degrees as a Percentage of Total Institutional Degrees for Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99.........................................................................145 Table 20: Total Bachelor’s o f Business Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99.........................................................................151 Table 21: Percentage o f Bachelor’s of Accounting Degrees as a Percentage of Total Business Degrees for Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99.........................................................................156 Table 22: Comparison of Trend in Accounting Graduates in Adopting States and Non-Adopting States for the Eight Academic Year Period 1991-92 through 1998-99 ............................................................. 164 Table 23: Comparison of Trend in Business Undergraduates in Adopting and Non-Adopting States for the Eight Academic Year Period 1991-92 through 1998-99 ..................................................166 Table 24: Total Number of Accounting Degrees Conferred for All Reporting Colleges and Universities from Academic Years Ending 1992 to 1999...................................................................................170 x Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Total Accounting Degrees in Adopting States................... 67 Figure 2: Total Bachelor's Degrees in Adopting States.....................76 Figure 3: Total Bachelor’s of Business Degrees in Adopting States...............................................................84 Figure 4: Total Number of Accounting Degrees in Non-Adopting States...................................................... 137 Figure 5: Total Number of Bachelor’s Degrees in Non-Adopting States...................................................... 139 Figure 6: Total Number of Business Degrees in Non-Adopting States..................................................... 150 Figure 7: Comparison o f Accounting Degrees Awarded in Adopting and Non-Adopting Institutions....................163 Figure 8: Comparison of Undergraduate Business Degrees Awarded In Adopting and Non-Adopting Institutions.....................168 xi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1: HISTORY OF THE 150-HOUR REQUIREMENT Introduction As businesses become more and more complex, the need for reliable record keeping and disclosure becomes vital. It is especially important for the information to be accurate when a company’s financial information will be used and relied upon by third parties. Much of the financial information o f a company is communicated in the form of financial statements. Financial statements are the principal means through which financial information is communicated to those inside and outside of a company (Kieso, Weygandt, and Warfield, 2001). Individuals with an accounting degree or an accounting background typically prepare the financial statements and are referred to as accountants. In addition to the preparation of financial statements, accountants perform a variety of activities for businesses. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, public accountants perform a wide range of accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting activities for their clients, who may be corporations, governments, nonprofit organizations, or individuals (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2002-03). For example, some public accountants specialize in tax matters, such as advising companies o f the tax advantages and disadvantages o f certain business decisions and preparing individual income tax returns. Others offer advice in areas such as compensation or employee healthcare benefits, the design of accounting and data-processing systems, and the selection o f controls to safeguard assets. These types of work are considered consulting 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 services. Some of these services require the accountant to issue an independent report. Some specialize in forensic accounting—investigating possible wrongdoing and fraud. Still others audit clients' financial statements and report to investors and authorities that the statements have been correctly prepared and reported. Public accountants, many of whom are CPAs, generally have their own businesses or work for public accounting firms (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 200203). There has been much negative publicity recently over public accounting firms offering auditing and consulting services to the same clients. Critics claim that the monetary reliance on other services hinders independence, which is magnified when accounting irregularities are uncovered. A specific set of skills is required in order to be successful in the accounting profession. These skills are acquired though advanced training, college education, and experience in the field. Most colleges and universities have, in their business curriculum, an accounting degree program. The traditional bachelor of accounting program requires approximately 120 to 12S college credit hours, which includes roughly 30 credit hours in accounting (College, 2000). Most accounting graduates take the Uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Exam soon after graduation. When all four sections o f the exam are passed with a minimum score of 75%, candidates are awarded a certificate designating them as a certified public accountant (How, 2002). The next step taken by most CPAs is to obtain a license to practice public accounting from the AICPA. In order to receive a license to practice public accounting after the exam has been passed, most states require two years of apprenticeship under the direction o f a licensed CPA Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 (MSCPA, 1999). Accountants are not allowed to present themselves to the public as a CPA unless they have a current license to practice in their resident state. The CPA license is considered one of the most prestigious credentials in the accounting field (Morrow, 2001), (Helton, 2002). In fact, all companies that sell their stock to the public must have their financial statements audited by a licensed CPA (Kieso et al., 2001). Most CPAs are members o f state or national organizations of CPAs. There are many prominent accounting organizations in the United States. The most influential accounting organization in the United States is considered the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) (Peck, 1999). The AICPA is a national organization of CPAs from every state in the union. Most CPAs are members of the AICPA. The members o f the AICPA elect the members o f the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The FASB consists of seven members and is responsible for the development of public accounting principles and is considered the most influential accounting body in the world (Stice, Stice, and Diamond, 2002). The FASB is considered the “Supreme Court” of accounting (Levy, 2001). To become a member of the AICPA, one must be a CPA. Over the past 10 years, the AICPA has changed the requirements that qualify a candidate to take the CPA exam. In the past, only a four-year bachelor’s degree in accounting, which consists of approximately 120 to 125 credit hours, was required to qualify to take the CPA exam. The AICPA has since mandated approximately 25 to 30 additional credit hours to qualify to take the CPA exam and become a member of Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4 the AICPA. Because of the AICPA's overreaching influence, most states have adopted this policy and subsequently passed legislation requiring 150 credit hours. The AICPA does not specify what particular courses comprise the additional hours (Donelan. Philipich, 2001), (Frequently. 1999). They do, however, give some guidance as to the specific desired skills with the ultimate goal o f creating a well-rounded professional (Byrd, 1996) (Albin and Crockett, 1991). The AICPA stipulates that the 150 hours of course work must include at least 60 semester hours in business, with no less than 27 hours in accounting beyond the introductory course or courses (FSA, 1996). Those accounting courses must also include at least one auditing course, and at least 18 semester hours must be upper division courses (MSCPA, 1999). Legislation Because accounting is a constantly changing profession, statutes requiring 150 semester hours of education to become a Certified Public Accountant must be flexible enough to allow variety in the content of accounting programs. The statutes must indicate that eligibility to apply for the CPA Examination includes a condition for completion of 150 hours o f course work, with at least a baccalaureate degree and a concentration in accounting. The following language is recommended for the statute: The education requirement for a certificate, which must be met before an applicant is eligible to apply for the examination prescribed in, shall be as follows: After the expiration o f the year period immediately following the effective date of this Act, at least 150 semester hours of college education Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5 including a baccalaureate or higher degree conferred by a college or university acceptable to the Board, the total educational program to include an accounting concentration or equivalent as determined by Board rule to be appropriate (AICPA/NASBA, 1999). Rules A candidate will be deemed to have met the education requirement if, as part of the 150 semester hours of education, he or she has met any one o f the following four conditions (AICPA/NASBA, 1999). 1. Earned a graduate degree with a concentration in accounting from an accounting program or department that is accredited (level three accreditation) by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board. 2. Earned a graduate degree from a business school or college o f business that is accredited (level two accreditation) by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board and completed at least 24 semester hours in accounting at the undergraduate level or 15 semester hours at the graduate level, or an equivalent combination thereof, including courses covering the subjects of financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and management accounting. 3. Earned a baccalaureate degree from a business school or college of business that is accredited (level two accreditation) by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board and completed 24 semester hours in accounting at the undergraduate or graduate level, including courses covering the subjects of financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and management accounting; and Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 6 completed at least 24 semester hours in business courses (other than accounting courses) at the undergraduate or graduate level. 4. Earned a baccalaureate or higher degree from an accredited educational institution (level one accreditation) including: a. At least 24 semester hours of accounting at the upper division or graduate level, including courses covering the subjects of financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and management accounting (an upper division course is normally defined as a course taken at the junior or senior level. In accounting, this would normally be all courses taken beyond the elementary level.); and b. At least 24 semester hours in business courses (other than accounting courses) at the undergraduate or graduate level (AICPA/NASBA, 1999). The requirement does not apply to CPAs who received their certification in advance of the effective date of the change in the education requirement in their state. For AICPA membership, the requirement is applicable to any candidate that takes the CPA exam and applies for membership after the year 2000 (AICPA, 1999), (Dennis, 2000). The AICPA education proposal does not require that the candidate complete a master's degree to meet the requirement. It can be met in a variety of ways, including extra hours at the graduate level without a master's degree. None of the states that have passed the 150-hour rule demand a master’s degree (AICPA, 1999), (College o f Business Administration, 2000). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 7 The AlCPA’s Desired Result The AICPA expects entrants who complete the requirement to be more knowledgeable, efficient and work with less supervision (AICPA, 2002) (AICPA mission. 2000). They also anticipate that both time and staff size will be reduced to offset increases in client expenditures. They are also hopeful that the requirement will attract a higher caliber student to accounting because it brings CPAs in line with other professions, such as medicine and law, which require additional education. Studies indicate that the top high school students are increasingly selecting careers that require graduate training. Also, the contention is that students completing the requirement will be able to advance more rapidly in their firms due to an increased education base. College educators and professional practitioners began realizing several years ago that accounting graduates needed a new set of skills. In fact, in 1997 a committee was formed called the Education Research Committee, which issued a report detailing the necessary skills for the new graduate entering the field of accounting (Baril, Chain, Cunningham, Fordham, Gardner, Pierre, Wolcott, 1997). The Committee was made up of college professors and accounting practitioners from all over the country. The Committee conducted interviews with 31 accounting practitioners with extensive experience evaluating entry-level accountants. They concluded that one of the major weaknesses o f accounting graduates is that they often lack the ability to think critically (AICPA Education Research Committee, 1997). The Committee specifically listed the following nine Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8 desired attributes related to critical thinking that should be the goal of an accounting program (Baril et al., 1997): 1. Ability to recognize problem areas, 2. Ability to recognize when additional information is needed. 3. Ability to fit details in the overall work environment, 4. Ability to transfer knowledge from one situation to another, 5. To exhibit initiative, 6. To exhibit curiosity, 7. To anticipate, think ahead and plan, 8. To exhibit confidence, 9. To communicate clearly and eloquently. While these were the Committee’s desired skills for accounting graduates, they concluded that it might not be possible to teach these skills within a college accounting program. Still, they recognized a need for additional accounting education. Accounting firms are going to need to increase starting salaries in order to attract top students into the profession. This is true even in the absence of an increased education requirement. Most states have a phase-in period, which should allow firms to absorb the increased cost over a period o f years. The ultimate goal of the AICPA’s push of the additional education requirement is to develop and hone the skills o f the accounting professional (AICPA, 2002). However, some argue that if the best candidates are choosing to go into other professions because of the rule, the additional hours will not produce Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 a more highly skilled professional, but produce the best available from a limited pool. The current shortage of accounting graduates will almost undoubtedly drive up starting salaries. While this is good news for the current graduates, in the long run the quality of the accounting graduate will almost certainly decline. Someday, when salaries are high enough, some of the best and brightest might come back. There is currently a serious shortage of accounting graduates. Many professionals in the accounting field blame this shortage on the new 150-hour requirement (Klein, 2001), (Carroll, 1997). They contend that potential students are discouraged from majoring in accounting due to the additional hours involved (Scott, 2000). Michael A. Diamond, past president of the American Accounting Association, warned the profession was "not attracting a sufficient number of students," that the "accounting education environment cries out for action" and the 150-hour rule is an "unyielding straightjacket" (Kelcher, 2000). In 1983, Florida became the first state to pass legislation requiring 150 credit hours. It adopted the 150-hour requirement independent of the AICPA’s influence as it was legislated 17 years before the AICPA’s directive. Decline in Accounting Graduates Many claim that as a result of the 150-hour requirement, so long sought after by the accounting profession, enrollment in accounting programs in higher education has been on a sharp decline, resulting in a dramatic decrease in the number o f students graduating from accounting programs (Donelan, Reed, 2000), (Shafer, 2001). Some of the decline has been attributed to the increase in the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 10 popularity of programs in computer science and technology. However, many critics of the 150-hour requirement believe that there is a direct correlation between the decline in accounting graduates and the enforcement of the new policy (Cumming and Rankin, 1999). A study by W. Steve Albrecht and Robert J. Sack, titled “Accounting Education: Charting the Course Through a Perilous Future " (2000), indicates that the number and quality of accounting majors is rapidly decreasing. They found that students do not believe that accounting degrees are as valuable as other business degrees, as evidenced by the decline in accounting majors. Even more startling, they found that most accounting professionals would not major in accounting if they had to do it all over again. The Albrecht and Sack report indicated a number of developments that were major factors in the decline of accounting majors. Specifically, there has been a dramatic change in the business environment over the past several years. First, technology changes have made the preparation of accounting information easier and less expensive. Computer software and hardware advances have radically increased the efficiency of communicating financial information. Secondly, globalization has changed the business environment into one giant marketplace. Consumers now have the ability to buy goods anywhere in the world at any time. Finally, there has been a major change in the concentration o f market investors. With the rise in 401(k)s, the power of mutual funds in the marketplace is enormous. The report indicates that the availability o f all o f this Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 11 financial information made the work of the accounting preparer less expensive, and, thus, less valuable (Albrecht and Sack, 2000). Data from the 2000 edition o f The Supply o f Accounting Graduates and the Demandfo r Public Accounting Recruits (Sanders, 2001) indicate that the total number of accounting bachelor’s and master’s degrees declined by 20% over the four-year academic year from 1995-96 to 1998-99 (Sanders, 2001). The study also revealed that the percentage of bachelor’s of accounting graduates accepting jobs in the industry dropped relative to the decrease in the number o f accounting graduates (Sanders, 2001). CPA firms, on the other hand, hired only slightly fewer bachelor of accounting graduates in 1999 compared to 1998, while they hired more master's graduates (Sanders, 2001). Accounting education programs have been under attack from corporate critics for some time. They constantly charge that accounting graduates lack required communication skills and the ability to think critically. The profession can no longer afford to hire the stereotypical unsocial “number cruncher.” With the rise in electronic communication through e-mail, today’s accountant must be public in every sense of the word. The new expanded curriculum attempts to address this problem with an emphasis on courses that develop specific skills such as business communications (AICPA, 2002). The accounting profession has also been hurt by the recent scandals at Enron Corporation and WorldCom (Blackburn, 2002). The profession has taken the brunt o f criticism for the events at Enron in what amounts to the second largest bankruptcy in the history of the United States (Zeune, 2002). Arthur Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 12 Andersen, one of the largest accounting firms in the world, was convicted in June 2002 o f obstruction of justice when they admitted to shredding thousands of documents related to their audit work. As a result o f the Enron scandal, there is an outcry for accounting reforms. Even more recently, the collapse at WorldCom has shaken the confidence in the profession of an already leery public (Maney and Backover, 2002). WorldCom represents the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and comes on the heals o f the Enron scandal. Through its well know brand MCI, WorldCom is the second largest long-distance phone company. In August 2002, WorldCom filed for bankruptcy with a reported $ 107 billion in assets. Reports indicate that WorldCom may have inflated its income by over $3.9 billion over the past five quarters. Instead of charging certain cost against current income they capitalized the costs and were charging the costs over a long period of time (Maney and Backover, 2002), which in effect, overstated current income. The events at WorldCom have rocked an already hurting accounting profession. In fact, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the FASB are considering drastic reforms to financial reporting (SEC, 2002). In a recent poll conducted by NFO WorldGroup, a New York financial-services marking firm, companies using outside auditors gave the accounting profession a grade of “D” on its overall performance (Whitman, 2002). Some of the suggested reforms will radically change the role o f the accountant, especially in the auditing function (Claypool and Tackett, 2002). After Enron and WorldCom, much attention has been given to the fact that Arthur Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 13 Andersen did not detect occurrences of material fraud that existed at both Companies. However, auditing standards require the auditor to design an audit program to give only a reasonable probability of detecting the existence of fraud (Claypool and Tackett, 2002). The problem with fraud is that if collusion exists in an organization, it is difficult, if not impossible, to detect fraud under normal auditing procedures. If auditors now have a higher responsibility to detect fraud, it will require substantial training and cost and will significantly change the curriculum taught in accounting programs (Claypool and Tackett, 2002). The effects of these scandals have already been seen in college classrooms. Professors all over the country are having heated debates about accounting ethics, spurred on by the Enron publicity (Shannon, 2002). Courses such as Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination are beginning to be offered at part of the accounting curriculum (Shannon, 2002). Perhaps these new courses will help stimulate student’s interest in becoming accounting majors. The decline in accounting graduates is alarming to the academic community. With fewer and fewer students entering the profession, a major shortage of accounting professionals is on the horizon. Even today, there is noticeable competition for accounting graduates among public accounting firms (Goldstein, 2000). The accounting profession has longed for the prestige given to the professions of medicine and law, each o f which requires extensive higher educational achievement. The establishment of the 150-hour requirement is an attempt by the accounting profession to put accounting on the same level. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 14 However, the revenue generated from practitioners of medicine and law far exceeds that of accountants (Salary.com, 2002). Accordingly, if the student must choose between and among these professions, and earnings potential is a major motivation factor, the number o f accounting graduates will continue to decline. Accounting educators must address the issue of fewer accounting majors in order to bring their programs back into balance. Statement Of Hypothesis The hypothesis for this study is that the 150-hour requirement has had no affect on the number of accounting graduates before the adoption of the 150 credit-hour requirement compared to after the adoption of the 150 credit-hour requirement in those states in which three years of graduation data are available before and after the adoption of the requirement. Research Questions The object of this study is to attempt to find answers to the following research questions: 1. What institutions adopted the 150-hour requirement from June 1994 through April 1997, so that three years of graduation data is available before and after the adoption o f the requirement? 2. What institutions, if any, have not enacted any legislation for the 150-hour requirement? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 15 3. Did the number o f accounting graduates increase or decrease for the majority of adopting institutions over the eight years beginning the 199192 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? 4. Did the overall number of bachelor’s degrees awarded increase or decrease for reporting institutions in adopting states over the eight academic years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? 5. Did the overall number of bachelor’s of business degrees awarded increase or decrease for reporting institutions in adopting states over the eight academic years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? 6. Did the percentage of bachelor’s of accounting graduates as a percentage of total undergraduate degrees awarded increase or decrease in adopting states over the eight academic years beginning with the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year for those institutions that have adopted the 150-hour requirement between June 1994 to April 1997? 7. Did the percentage of bachelor’s of accounting graduates as a percentage of total business graduates increase or decrease over the eight academic years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year, for those institutions that have adopted the 150-hour requirement between June 1994 to April 1997? 8. Was there a significant difference in the three-year average number o f accounting graduates before the adoption o f the 150-hour requirement Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 16 compared the three-year average after the adoption of the requirement for institutions in adopting states? 9. Was there a significant difference in the three-year average percentage of accounting graduates compared to total undergraduates before the adoption of the 150-hour requirement compared the three-year average after the adoption o f the requirement for institutions in adopting states? 10. Was there a significant difference in the three-year average percentage of accounting graduates compared to total business undergraduates before the adoption of the 150-hour requirement compared the three-year average after the adoption o f the 150-hour requirement for institutions in adopting states? 11. Did the overall number of accounting graduates increase or decrease in non-adopting institutions over the eight years beginning the 1991 -92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? 12. Did the number o f undergraduate degrees awarded increase or decrease in non-adopting institutions over the eight years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? 13. Did the percentage of bachelors of accounting graduates as a percentage of total undergraduate degrees awarded increase or decrease over the eight academic years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year for non-adopting institutions? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 17 14. Did the overall number of undergraduate business degrees awarded increase or decrease in non-adopting institutions over the eight years beginning the 1991 -92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? 15. Did the percentage of bachelor’s o f accounting graduates as a percentage o f total business graduates increase or decrease over the eight academic years beginning the 1991 -92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year, for non-adopting institutions? 16. Was there any correlation in the trend of the number of accounting graduates for institutions in adopting states compared to institutions in non-adopting states, over the eight academic years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? 17. Was there any correlation in the trend in the number o f business undergraduates for institutions in adopting states compared to institutions in non-adopting states, over the eight academic years beginning the 199192 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? 18. Did the overall number of undergraduate accounting degrees awarded increase or decrease for all reporting universities over the eight years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Many people in the accounting profession believe that the 150-hour requirement, so long sought after, has already had a major impact on accounting education and the accounting industry (Carroll, 1997). There is evidence that the number of students in college accounting programs in higher education has been on a sharp decline. According to an article in Accounting Today (Covaleski, 2000), there has been a steady decline, since 1995, in the number of candidates taking the CPA exam for the first time. Nationwide, from 1992 to 1998, the number of those taking the CPA exam for the first time declined by 40%. There was, however, a significant increase in 1997 due to an influx of students trying to qualify for the exam before the 150-hour requirement became mandatory in many states. Some of the decline can be attributed to the increase in the popularity of programs in computer science and technology. However, many in the profession claim there is a direct correlation between the decline in accounting graduates and enforcement o f the new policy (Sparkmon, 2000). The lack o f supply of accounting graduates will continue to drive up salary costs. Following is a discussion of the history and background of the 150-hour requirement. The 150-Hour Background In January 1988, the general membership of the AICPA voted to require all new members, after the year 2000, to have completed 150 semester hours of 18 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 19 college education. The inclusion of this requirement in the bylaws o f the AICPA has helped to bring the accounting profession closer to their ultimate goal of establishing 150 semester hours as the minimum education required to sit for the CPA examination (AICPA, 1999). One objective of an increased education is to improve the overall quality of work performed by CPAs, who are met with changing technology, an increasingly complex business environment, and society’s constant insistence for accountability (Reinstein, Bayou, Lander, 2000). The AICPA believes that expanding the education requirement to 150 hours will provide the opportunity for a broader education, and will enable CPAs to acquire the basic accounting and business knowledge plus develop the skills needed to support lifelong professional careers. The law calls only for 150-semester hours o f college education, including a bachelors or higher degree, with the total program to include an accounting concentration (Renner, Tanner, 2001). The rules identify four possible conditions for evaluating the education of CPA candidates, which allows for different educational paths. The rules only specify a minimum of 24semester hours each of accounting and business so that colleges and universities have the flexibility to design their own curriculum or offerings (AICPA/NASBA, 1999). To become a certified public accountant, most state accountancy statutes originally required a baccalaureate degree consisting of approximately 120 credit hours, with a concentration in accounting. To encourage standardization among Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 20 the states as they change their rules to increase the education requirement, the AICPA and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) published the AICPA/NASBA Guide for the Implementation o f the 150-Hour Education Requirement. (AICPA/NASBA, 1999) which provides guidance to college and universities for developing curriculum. This same guidance appears in the AICPA/NASBA Uniform Accountancy Act and Uniform Accountancy Rules (AICPA/NASBA, 1999), which is shown on page 4 of this study titled “Rules” (AICPA/NASBA, 1999). Background The issue of additional education for accountants had been sought after by the AICPA since 1959 (AICPA, 1999). In 1959, the Special Coordinating Committee to Study the Report o f the AICPA Commission on Standards o f Education and Experience fo r CPAs recommended that an advanced degree, in addition to the traditional four-year degree, was important and should be adopted as a requirement to become a CPA. This recommendation was adopted by the AICPA very soon thereafter. Since that time, similar resolutions have been reaffirmed. In 1969, the proposals by the 1959 Coordinating Committee were expanded to state that the CPA certificate is confirmation o f basic skills in the discipline of accounting and that the possessor has acquired the body o f knowledge common to all members o f the occupation (This knowledge is defined Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 21 in Horizons o f a Profession published by the AICPA in 1967). It was also stated that in order to obtain this body of knowledge, five years o f college study are required and should be the education prerequisite for obtaining a CPA credential. Without this five-year requirement, there must be at least one year of qualifying experience (AICPA. 1999). During the 1970s, the AICPA continued to work to achieve not only this five-year requirement, but also to improve accounting programs in all colleges and universities. In 1978, AICPA Council reaffirmed its support for the earlier recommendations of expanded education with the publication of Education Requirements fo r Entry into the Accounting Profession. In this report, the Council again endorsed 150-semester hours as the minimum education needed to sit for the CPA exam. The report recommended that the curriculum described therein should lead to a post graduate degree, and that the specific course content should be left to the academic community. The curriculum recommendations contained in the report were updated in 1992 under the title Academic Preparation to Become a CPA (AICPA, 1999). In September 1981, the Board of Directors approved the selection of an independent study group to gather evidence and devise an approach to aid in the transition from a four-year baccalaureate requirement to a five-year requirement. The Commission on Professional Accounting Education was established and co­ sponsored by the AICPA, the American Accounting Association, the Federation of Schools of Accountancy and the National Association o f State Boards of Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 22 Accountancy. Their report declared that the AICPA should take a prominent role and persuade states to adopt 150 hours of education as a condition for certification (AICPA, 1999). In May 1987, the AICPA established the Plan to Restructure Professional Standards. This plan included the stipulation that all new members, following the year 2000, have 150-semester hours of college instruction. The AICPA agreed to submit this plan for a membership vote. In January 1988, the general membership passed the resolution with 83% of the vote cast in favor of adding to the bylaws the 150-hour precondition for membership to the AICPA (AICPA, 1999). The 150-semester hour requirement is one o f three important initiatives by the AICPA to ensure the quality of future audits. The other two are mandatory Continuing Professional Education (CPE) and peer review for accounting firms. Other Developments During the 1980s, the American Accounting Associations appointed the Special Committee on the Future Structure. Content and Scope o f Accounting Education (AICPA, 1999). The committee finished its study in the spring o f 1986 with twenty-five recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of accounting education. In summary, the committee indicated that the current state of accounting education is inadequate to meet the needs o f a dynamically changing profession and a major overhaul is needed by the year 2000. In addition, a change of focus is needed from teaching accounting as a narrow methodological subject Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 23 to teaching it as an information-development and information-distribution function for economic decision-making. The committee also believed that the emphasis in accounting education should be on having students learn how to be independent thinkers, and that accounting education should be changed from a four-year to a five-year program (AICPA, 1999). In 1989, a group o f the largest accounting firms issued a position paper, Perspectives on Education: Capabilities fo r Success in the Accounting Profession. This paper focused on the capabilities that the profession requires and that should be developed through the educational process. The firms acknowledged that to meet the challenges of the modem business world effectively, practitioners must develop a broad array of professional skills, including communication skills, intellectual skills and interpersonal skills. Their report led to the formation o f the Accounting Education Change Commission that annually awards nearly $4 million in grants to schools to experiment with innovative changes in the curriculum (AICPA, 1999). All of these developments call for expanding accounting education programs to recognize the changing scope of the accounting profession and the importance of developing a broad array of skills and knowledge for the professional practitioner (AICPA 150-Hour Education Requirement, 1999), (Next Generation Accountant, 2001). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 24 Accounting Enrollment Trends According to the AICPA. the number of students enrolled in an undergraduate accounting program has declined from 189,863 in the 1993-94 academic year to 134,050 in the 1998-99 academic year, a decrease of approximately 30% (Covaleski, 2000). Further indication o f the decline of accounting majors is the fact that in 1990, four percent of college students majored in accounting. By 2000, only two percent of college students majored in accounting, and in 2001, only one percent of college students were accounting majors (Romine, 2002). In Florida, the 150-hour requirement has been in effect since 1983, and a study by the University of Florida indicates that graduates meeting the 150-hour requirement receive starting salaries that are almost 50% higher than graduates with a 120-hour degree (Covaleski, 2000). Many studies have been done in Florida since it was the first state to adopt the 150-hour requirement. The University of Florida offers students several options to meet the 150 requirement including completing the additional hours in the form of a separate master’s degree. Although many institutions are offering a master’s degree to meet the additional hours, it is not required by the AICPA and can be met by just taking additional undergraduate or graduate courses (Covaleski, 2000). According to an article in the New Accountant (Fedoryshyn and Hintz, 2000) the freshman enrollment o f accounting majors for the class o f 1999 continued to decline at an alarming rate; this could have a dramatic impact four or Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 25 five years down the road when these students enter the job market. Fedoryshyn and Hintz (2000) quoted a study conducted by the American Council on Higher Education, indicating freshman interest in accounting has declined by 63% over the period from 1986 to 1999, surpassing even the most pessimistic predictions (American Council on Education, 2001). This annual study surveys more than 200,000 students entering their freshman year at both four-year colleges and universities and two-year community colleges, and among other things, asks the students what their probable major will be. This will ultimately lead to accounting staff shortages and result in substantial increases in starting salaries for accountants. There is evidence that the accounting profession is already having difficulty finding and retaining qualified staff (Fedoryshyn and Hintz, 2000). While the number of freshman accounting majors continues to decline, the study shows a dramatic increase in the number of computer science majors. Over the same period o f time, the number of freshman computer science majors increased by 25%. Since both accounting and computer science majors are classified as business majors, some suggest that at least a portion of the decline can be attributed to the growing interest in the computer field (Fedoryshyn and Hintz, 2000). The study went on to indicate that the main factors that went into the student’s decision to choose a particular major were the ability to get a good job (indicated by 73%), to learn more about a subject that was of interest (72.2%) and to be able to make more money (71%) (Fedoryshyn and Hintz, 2000). These responses indicate that potential earnings play a significant role in the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 26 determination of the student’s choice of major. Since computer science majors typically have higher starting salaries than accounting graduates, and potential earnings partly determine a career choice, it can be deduced that the increase in interest in computer science may also be a factor affecting the interest in accounting programs. Another study conducted in Florida, featured in the April 1999 edition of the Journal o f Accountancy indicated that there was a significant drop off in accounting majors shortly after the adoption of the 150-hour requirement (Cumming and Rankin, 1999). Florida is an important state in this process since it was the first state to adopt the requirement in 1983. Florida candidates had to meet the new requirements to become a CPA if they failed to take the exam before August 1, 1983. As a result, candidates that would have otherwise qualified in 1984 accelerated their programs in order to take the exam before the 1983 deadline. This created a surplus of CPA candidates in 1983 and dramatic decline in 1984. Furthermore, those candidates that barely missed the deadline had to complete approximately one more additional year o f college to become eligible to take the CPA exam. Essentially, those candidates could not start their careers until 1985, or later. The Florida study showed that the largest number of four-year accounting degrees (1,772) earned at Florida universities during the past 20 years occurred during the 1982-83 academic year. What was more telling in the Florida study was the dramatic decline in the number o f accounting graduates that took the CPA exam the years following the adoption o f the requirement The number of Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 27 accounting graduates in 1984 dropped by almost 24% or 413 candidates. The number of accounting graduates continued to decline until the early 1990s when overall college enrollment began to increase (Cumming and Rankin, 1999). Data in the Florida study indicate that students were accelerating their graduation in order to beat the 150-hour deadline, leading to an influx of accounting graduates the year before, and a void the year after. It is necessary, therefore, to examine several years before and several years after the enactment of the new requirement in order to get a more accurate indication o f the actual effect on the number of accounting graduates (Cumming and Rankin, 1999). Supporters of the 150-hour requirement claim that a benefit of the new requirement is increased passing rates for those candidates that have taken the additional hours. A study by the National Association o f State Boards o f Accountancy (NASBA) indicated that first time candidates meeting the 150-hour requirement significantly outperformed those lacking the additional hours by a pass rate of 21% compared to 13% (Read, Raghunandan, Brown, 2001). The study also indicated that students with the additional hours were more likely to pass more sections, earning conditional credit (Read, et. a., 2001). Most schools still offer traditional four-year degree programs, however, these programs do not qualify a graduate to sit for the exam. For example, in 1982, two years before the new requirement was instated, there were 1,629 first time candidates that took the CPA exam. The next year, in an effort to qualify for the exam before the new requirements came into effect, a record 3,294 candidates sat for the exam. In 1984, when the requirements came into effect, the number o f Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 28 first time candidates in Florida declined to an amazingly low 54, a decrease of over 5,000%. Since 1984 the number of candidates taking the exam has slowly increased but has yet to reach the pre-1984 levels (Cumming and Rankin, 1999). These data indicate that the 150-hour requirement had significantly more effect on the number of CPA candidates than it did on the number of accounting graduates. It is important to note that some accounting graduates do not intend to become CPAs. The CPA designation, while the most prestigious credential in the accounting profession, is not required for professional careers outside of public accounting. For these students, most schools still offer the traditional 120-hour accounting degree program. In Florida, one in three accounting majors opt for the 120-hour program. These students are still marketable to employers; however, their options are limited in the public accounting arena. While the 150-hour requirement has been the most often cited reason for the decline in the number of accounting graduates, some studies suggest that other factors may be responsible for the decline. One study, conducted by Mark Roman and Kimberly Temme, from Maryville University-St. Louis (Roman and Temme, 2001), indicates that student's perceptions about the accounting profession may be a primary reason for the decline in accounting graduates. The research focused on the St. Louis metropolitan area. Students from four Missouri area colleges completed 206 surveys during the spring o f 2000. The majority of students surveyed were between the ages o f 18 and 22. Most students were in their sophomore year of eligibility. The survey was administered in introductory Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 29 accounting classes, which typically include both accounting and non-accounting majors (Roman and Temme, 2001). According to Roman and Temme’s findings, 29% of the students indicated that they were interested in pursuing a career in accounting while 71% indicated that they were not interested. This is significant since, while introductory accounting courses are required for all business majors, they have historically included a majority of accounting majors. What was more significant about the study was the fact that only 68% o f the students that said they were interested in accounting knew about the 150-hour requirement. Of those that said they were not interested in a career in accounting, 81% did not know about the 150-hour requirement. This study indicates that there must be another reason, besides the new requirement, that students are not choosing accounting (Roman and Temme, 2001 ). When the students were asked why they were not interested in accounting only 2% said that it was because of the 150-hour requirement. Approximately 43% of respondents indicated that they either disliked accounting or thought it was not an exciting field. Nearly 23% o f the respondents gave another reason for not choosing accounting (Roman and Temme, 2001). Some of the responses from those who disliked accounting included statements like, “I don’t want to sit at a desk all day and crunch numbers,” or ”1 am a people person and I like dealing with the public.” These responses indicate that the problem with the decline o f accounting graduates may be related more to Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 30 the perception of the accounting profession than the 150-hour requirement (Roman and Temme, 2001). Another study was conducted by Steve Albrecht of Brigham Young University and Robert J. Sack of the University of Virginia resulting in three main conclusions (Albrecht and Sack, 2000). First, the study indicates that the number and quality of students electing to major in accounting is decreasing. Secondly, students say they do not perceive accounting degrees to be as valuable as they used to be, or as valuable as other degrees. Finally, the study indicated that accounting leaders feel that the current accounting structure is outdated and needs significant modification. Among other factors, this study indicates that the recently enacted 150-hour program is one of the many factors for the decline in accounting majors. However, the study goes on to say that the decline in accounting students is also affected by competitive market pressures, the growing attractiveness of other fields such as information systems, and most importantly the misperception of high school students regarding the accounting profession and the failure of the accounting profession to promote a better image (Albrecht and Sack, 2000). Specific Desired Attributes Similar to the study by the Education Research Committee, the AICPA has published a list of personal competencies that relate to the attitudes and behaviors of individuals preparing to enter the accounting field. The AICPA believes that Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 31 developing these personal competencies will enhance the way professional relationships are handled and facilitate individual learning and personal improvement (AICPA, 2002). The AICPA has developed an inventory o f desired skills and abilities that the 150-hour requirement is intended to address. The following is a list and description that the AICPA has published of the skills and abilities necessary to be a successful practitioner (AICPA, 2002). Professional Demeanor The goal of the AICPA is for the accounting profession to continue to maintain a public reputation for quality of work and significant roles in business and society. Persons entering accounting as a career, should act in an ethical manner that is consistent with the character and principles of the discipline of accounting, as well as the accepted rules of behavior of the environment in which they work. The practitioner must demonstrate competency, which involves objectivity, integrity, and ethical behavior. There must also be a commitment to consistent work performance, as well as a commitment to acquiring new skills and knowledge. The desired skill and abilities related to become a more well rounded professional specify that the practitioner must: • Cultivate growth in personal conduct and capabilities; • Diagnose the need for change and take appropriate action to gain competencies; • Measure oneself against evolving standards and meet or exceed those standards; • Accept professional development as a life-long process; Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 32 • Perform reliably under changing demands; • Evaluate information in a manner free of distortions, personal bias or conflicts of interest; • Recognize situations where professional ethical standards apply and behave accordingly, • Conduct oneself with honesty; • Respect confidentiality, • Commit to quality and efficiency, • Manage stress and adapt to unusual demands with composure; • Objectively consider others' professional criticism or evaluation; • Adhere to a level of personal appearance appropriate to the environment; • Identify and prioritize career and personal goals and be accountable to and leam from mistakes (AICPA, 2002). Problem Solving and Decision Making The AICPA is also concerned with the problem solving skills of the CPA. Accountants are frequently asked to solve problems or make judgments. Individuals in the profession should display effective problem solving and decision-making skills, good insight and judgment, as well as innovative and creative thinking. The AICPA indicates that an accountant entering the profession out of college should be able to: • Make valid and reliable evaluations of information; • Use experience and comparison in forming opinions; • Evaluate the significance of evidence or facts; Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 33 • Synthesize novel or original definitions of problems and solutions as circumstances dictate; • Adapt to new contexts and promote constructive change; • Verify information for problem definition and solution; • Propose and evaluate alternative solutions; • Seek consensus where appropriate; • Consider contingencies and future developments; • Reason carefully and think effectively in abstract terms or generalizations; • Analyze the impact of potential actions; • Consider unconventional approaches and solutions to problems; • Know when to follow directions, question plans, or seek help (AICPA, 2002). Interaction Another set of skills desired by the profession is for accounting professionals to be able to work with others to accomplish objectives. This requires them to act as team members to provide business solutions. The goal is for persons entering the accounting field to be able to demonstrate an ability to work effectively with individuals in a variety o f roles and with varying interests in the end product. To accomplish these goals, an accountant must be able to: • Recognize the value of working within diverse, cross-functional teams; • Interact and cooperate productively and maturely with others; • Facilitate free expression and constructive activities o f others; • Coach or mentor in appropriate circumstances; • Commit to achievement o f common goals when working on a team; Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 34 • Accept suggestions and guidance o f team leaders and other members; • Recognize and accommodate the protocols and expectations of teams (AICPA, 2002). Leadership Those in the field also mention leadership skills as desired attributes for entering the profession. Individuals coming in to the accounting profession should be able to lead effectively in appropriate circumstances. This involves developing the skills needed to encourage and guide individuals and groups to achieve desired outcomes. To achieve these desired outcomes, the accounting professional should be able to; • Motivate others to achieve excellence; • Rally the support of others to accomplish objectives; • Chair teams or volunteers for projects; • Value inputs and points of view o f others and respond appropriately; • Facilitate development of consensus or compromise as appropriate; • Persuade others to a course o f action by reasoning or incentive; • Practice principles of effective governance (AICPA, 2002). Communication One o f the most important concerns o f current accounting professionals is that graduates entering the field have the ability to communicate effectively. Accountants are expected to communicate financial and non-financial information so that it is understood by individuals with various abilities and backgrounds in Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 35 accounting. Accountants should be able to provide meaningful information in a way that can be interpreted correctly by the user. They should have the ability to listen, deliver solid presentations and demonstrate effective business writing. The AICPA list of leadership skills include the graduate's ability to: • Organize and effectively display information so that it is meaningful to the receiving party, • Express information and concepts with conciseness and clarity when writing and speaking; • Receive and originate direct and indirect messages as appropriate when listening, reading, writing and speaking; • Use interpersonal skills to facilitate effective interaction; • Place information in appropriate context when listening, reading, writing and speaking; • Select appropriate media for dissemination or accumulation of information (AICPA, 2002). Project Management Much of the accountant’s effort includes working on multiple projects. Accordingly, accountants must be able to manage numerous projects at the same time. They must also have the ability to organize the course of a multi-faceted, multi-step assignment effectively. This includes supervising project assets, as well as human, economic, property, and technical resources. To be able to accomplish successful project management the entrant should be able to: • Determine project goals; • Prioritize and delegate as needed; • Allocate project resources to maximize results; Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited w ithout permission. 36 • Effectively manage human resources that are committed to the project; • Effectively facilitate and controls the project process; • Measure project progress; • Take corrective action as needed; • See projects through to completion or orderly transition; • Realistically estimate time and resource requirements; • Recognize situations where prompt and determined actions are needed and respond accordingly (AICPA, 2002). Leverage Technology to Develop and Enhance Personal Competencies Since technology plays such an important role in the work of the accounting professional, technology skills must be taught as part o f the accounting curriculum (Elam, 1995). As technology continues to advance, accountants must acquire new skills by keeping current with the latest technology. This commitment to continual development o f technology skills will increase the advancement and use of other individual competencies. The specific skills desired for accounting professionals include the ability to: • Exchange information using appropriate communication technologies such as e-mail, discussion boards and video-conferencing; • Explore new technologies and their application to business and accounting scenarios; • Acquire skills through technology-based learning modules when available and appropriate; • Address privacy, intellectual property rights and security issues related to electronic communication (AICPA, 2002). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 37 Implementation of Desired Skills Into Curriculum These desired skills o f accounting graduates must be incorporated in the college curriculum of accounting programs. Due to the expanding skills necessary for the profession, it has become difficult, if not impossible, to facilitate the instruction of these skills in a traditional 120-hour program. The AICPA has developed resources to aid in the development of additional courses to meet the 150-hour requirement. A study published in the August 2001 edition o f The CPA Journal indicated that 35% of the 150-hour candidates enrolled in master’s o f accountancy programs and 22% in MBA or other graduate programs. The remaining 43% met the additional hour requirement by taking undergraduate classes (Donelan, Philipich, 2001). The study indicated that candidates working at an accounting firm were more likely to meet the requirement through an advanced degree program. The 150-Hour Curriculum Development Handbook, developed by the AICPA, is considered an excellent resource providing useful background materials for deans, department heads, and accounting faculty. It helps those in academia to evaluate accounting programs in response to the new requirement. The document draws on materials from a variety of professional and academic organizations. In addition, the Handbook provides case studies on curricula and programs (based on actual cases) along with an evaluation of the program. These Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 38 cases and critiques are intended to provide an array of approaches to the 150-hour educational requirement. It is important to note that the AICPA is not sanctioning any particular program design; just the opposite is true, creativity and flexibility are encouraged. Each school must assess its distinctive individual situation in determining the appropriate curriculum (AICPA/NASBA, 1999). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This research will focus on how the implementation o f the 150 credit-hour requirement has affected the participation in accounting education programs. The primary question that this research will attempt to answer is: what effect has the 150-hour requirement had on the number of accounting graduates from four-year accounting programs? There is evidence that student interest in accounting programs has been on the decline nation-wide. This research will attempt to determine whether there is any evidence that the decline has been caused by the implementation of the 150-hour requirement. The research will examine the number of accounting graduates from states that have adopted the 150-hour requirement from 1993 to 1998. Data on the number of accounting graduates are available from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) for the academic years 1990-91 through 1998-99. Since many of the states adopted the 150-hour requirement at different times, graduation patterns can be examined to determine whether a relationship exists between the time o f the adoption and the decline in accounting graduates. Thirty-three states currently have laws in effect that require a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) candidate to have 150 college credit hours before being eligible to take the CPA exam. Another 12 states have adopted legislation that will be enacted in the next few years. 39 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 40 Operational Definitions 150-Hour Requirement. The requirement to have at least 150 hours of college credit to qualify to take the Uniform CPA exam. AACSB. The American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. A not for profit organization that provides accreditation to college business programs. Adopted States. Those states that have adopted the 150-hour requirement between April 1994 and July 1997. AICPA. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The organization considered the most influential accounting organization in the United States. Business Graduates. Graduates in an undergraduate business related field of study. CPA. A public accountant who has been certified by a state examining board as having met the state's legal requirements. CPA Exam. A uniform exam given by the state board o f accountancy, the passage of which is required in order to receive a license to practice public accounting. Correlation. A causal, complementary, parallel, or reciprocal relationship, especially a structural, functional, or qualitative correspondence between two comparable variables. Curriculum. A group of related courses, often in a special field o f study. Institution. A college or university of higher education offering at least a bachelors degree in accounting. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 41 License to Practice. A license to practice public accounting and hold oneself out as a public accountant. A CPA certificate is not the same as licensure. Microsoft Excel. A spreadsheet software program that allows the use of cell formulas to study, organize and analyze data. Pearson R. Statistical test that returns the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient, r, a dimensionless index that ranges from -1.0 to 1.0 inclusive and reflects the extent of a linear relationship between two data sets. Regression. The study of how the distribution of a variable changes as a function o f certain conditions SPSS. A statistical program used in this study to analyze data. State Board of Accountancy. The state agency that issues the license to practice in their jurisdiction. t-test. A statistical test that helps determine whether two samples are likely to have come from the same two underlying populations that have the same mean. Total Graduates. The total number o f graduates of the institution. Traditional Accounting Program. An undergraduate accounting degree program that requires approximately 120 to 126 credit hours of coursework. Participants Participants in this study will be those colleges and universities that offer a bachelor's degree in accounting in those states that have adopted the 150-hour requirement between the 1993-1994 academic year and the 1996-97 academic Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 42 year (States, 1999). This will provide at least three years of graduation data before and after the adoption o f the 150-hour requirement. These types o f data collection represent cluster sampling because the population includes only colleges and universities in the states that have adopted the requirement in the specified time period. Based on the data parameters, accounting graduation data from colleges and universities in four states are included in this study. Since the study requires three years of data after the adoption of the 150-hour requirement, most states have adopted the new requirement too late to be included in this study. The only states not included in this study, which meet the criteria, are Florida and Hawaii, both of which adopted the 150-hour requirement much earlier than the available data range. Accordingly, accounting graduation data for Florida and Hawaii near the time of their adoption were unavailable. The researcher will also examine data from states that have not adopted the 150-hour requirement at all. There are currently five states that do not have any legislation pertaining to additional accounting hours. The states that do not have any legislation include California, Delaware, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Vermont. These states will be examined for trends in accounting enrollment and compared to the states that have legislation to see if there is a significant difference. Instruments The data required in this study are available at specific sites on the Internet. The National Centerfo r Educational Statistics has graduation Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 43 information available on-line that contains data for each state (http://nces.ed.gov). Also, the American Association o f Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has, since the 1991 academic year, collected graduation data from business schools throughout the country that have awarded at least 25 bachelor degrees in business. Specifically, the AACSB has data on the number of business degrees conferred, including accounting, by state and university. The information from the AACSB will be the primary source of data for this study. Other sources, such as The Chronicle o f Higher Education, have compiled graduation data on the various fields of study. These data can be analyzed to show the graduation trends in accounting programs for all of the colleges in the sample. The data necessary for this study can be gathered on-line with a personal computer with Internet service. Since the data are already formatted on an Excel spreadsheet, it will be organized to contain only those states that meet the criteria. The spreadsheet will include such information as the name of the university, the number o f accounting graduates for three years prior to the adoption of the 150-hour requirement, and three years after the 150-hour policy was implemented. From these data, additional spreadsheets will be created that compare graduation trends for accounting programs in the selected states. Selected spreadsheets will be prepared analyzing various trends in business and accounting graduation rates. These data will then be transferred to the statistical program SSPS and entered into two main columns. The first column will be labeled “before 150,” denoting the enrollment figures before the 150-hour requirement. The second Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 44 column will be labeled “after 150,” denoting enrollment after the 150-hour requirement. Design This research will be designed to determine whether there is any relationship between the adoption of the 150-hour requirement and the decline in accounting graduates. The independent variable or the “cause” is the adoption of the 150-hour requirement. The dependent variable, or the “effect” is the change in accounting graduates. The research will determine whether there is any relationship between the time of the adoption of the 150-hour requirement for each state and a decline in accounting graduates. Since the independent variable has already occurred and cannot be manipulated, a casual-comparative study is the appropriate design in this case. This part of the study is not correlational research, because the research is not attempting to predict the number of students graduating from accounting programs, but whether the 150-hour requirement had caused any portion of the decline. Furthermore, this study is not experimental research because the groups are already formed and the difference between the two groups is not to be brought about by any action of the researcher. The basic causal-comparative design involves selecting two groups differing on an independent variable and comparing them on some dependent Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 45 variable. The first group in this study is the number of accounting graduates before the adoption o f the 150-hour requirement for each university. This group will be compared to the number o f accounting graduates after the adoption of the 150-hour requirement. Accordingly, the “groups” are non-independent groups that are formed by comparing a single group (number of accounting degrees) before and after the application o f the independent variable (i.e., the 150-hour requirement). The study will analyze if there is any significant difference between the means of the first group and the second group. The statistic used for this part of the study will be the two-tailed “t” test. The “t” test is used to determine whether two means are significantly different at a selected probability level. This study will focus on a “paired” t-test, which will match the accounting graduation data from each university before and after the implementation of the new requirement. The selected probability level for this study is .05. In other words, there would be a 95% certainty that the difference in the two means, if any, is a true difference and not a statistical abnormality. This study will also include descriptive statistics such as the “mean” or average number of graduates for three years before and after the 150-hour requirement for all universities included in the study. It will also include statistics on the mean after the 150-hour requirement was in effect and the standard deviation o f the change. In addition to analyzing the change in the number of accounting graduates, this study will analyze the change in the percentage of accounting degrees, as a Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 46 percentage of total business degrees, for each university in this study. If the number of accounting degrees makes up 25% of the total business degrees granted by a university, for example, that percentage will be compared to prior and future years to determine if the percentage o f accounting degrees is increasing or decreasing. Some critics claim that all business degree programs have experienced a decline in graduates. The percentage analysis will help determine whether the change in accounting graduates is related to the overall decline in business programs and not as a result of the new 150-credit requirement. This percentage change will be analyzed three years prior and three years after the adoption of the 150-hour requirement. The analysis will determine whether there is any significant difference in the average percentage of accounting degrees, to total business degrees, for three years prior and three years after the new requirement. For this test, however, the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test will be used to determine whether there is any difference in the distribution of the percentages before and after the 150-hour requirement was adopted. Finally, the change in the percentage of accounting degrees to total institutional degrees will be examined. This analysis, similar to above, will also require the use of the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test to determine if their distribution is significantly different. In order to verify the results, accounting graduation data will be examined from those states that have not enacted the 150-hour requirement and those results will be compared with the results o f states that have adopted the 150-hour rule. If the number o f graduates has also declined in the states that have not adopted, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 47 (California, Delaware, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Vermont), it may provide evidence that the decline in interest in accounting programs is due to some factor other than the 150-hour requirement. The Pearson Regression Analysis will be used to determine if there is any correlation in the eight-year accounting graduation trend from institutions in those states that have adopted the 150-hour requirement compared to institutions in those states that do not have any legislation relating to the requirement. A correlation coefficient approaching 1.0 or -1.0 would indicate that a relationship in the two data sets does exist. If there is evidence of a correlation of the two data sets, then it would indicate that the accounting graduation trend is the same for institutions in both adopting and non-adopting states. Procedure The first step in this study will be to gather information on the number of accounting graduates from appropriate sites on the Internet. The data collected will attempt to gather graduation data for three years prior to the particular state’s adoption of the 150-hour requirement and three years after the requirement became law. The second step will involve organizing the data and entering it on an Excel spreadsheet. The use of Excel will help organize the data so it can be analyzed before it is entered into the statistical package. For example, the Excel spreadsheet will provide information that shows the number of colleges and universities that that are in states that have already adopted the 150-hour Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 48 requirement and have at least three years of data available before and after the adoption of the 150-hour requirement. The data will be divided into two groups; the first “group” will consist o f the graduation figures from universities before the adoption of 150-hour requirement; the second “group” will consist o f the enrollment figures for three years after the requirement became mandatory. Universities in those states that have not adopted the new requirement or do not have at least three years of graduation data after the requirement was adopted will not be included in this study. The final step will involve transferring the data from the Excel spreadsheet to the statistical package SPSS. Once entered into the statistical package, the data can be analyzed to determine whether a relationship exists between the two groups. Data Analysis The data output from the Excel spreadsheet and SPSS for the first part of the study will be analyzed and interpreted based on the results o f the significance statistic computed by the computer program. If the computer generated significance level is lower than the predetermined level of significance of .05, then it can be concluded that there is a significant difference in the means of the two groups and null hypothesis will be rejected that states that there is no significant difference in the means of the two groups as a result of the independent variable (the 150-hour requirement). As is typical with a causal comparative study, if the findings are significant, it may not Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 49 necessarily mean that the 150-hour requirement caused the change in the two groups, only that there seems to be a relationship and further study needs to be conducted. The study should be able to determine whether the independent variable occurred first and a subsequent change in the mean followed. Summary The purpose of this research is to determine the effect of the 150-credithour requirement for CPAs - the requirement that CPA candidates have additional college credit hours - on specific areas o f accounting and accounting education. Specifically, this research attempts to determine whether there is any relationship between the adoption of the 150-hour requirement and the decline in accounting graduates in traditional four-year accounting programs. The 150-credit-hour requirement has been under a great deal o f criticism since it was first adopted in Florida in 1983. Some analysts predict that there will be a severe shortage of accounting personnel as a direct result of the additional credit hour requirements. There are even some critics that say the 150-hour requirement should be repealed. This research will be useful to all state societies o f public accounting, colleges and universities and CPA professionals. Hopefully, the results will make these organizations aware of the consequences, whether good or bad, o f this new requirement. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 50 In a time of economic prosperity there is always an increase in the demand for accounting personnel. Add to that factor a decline in degreed accountants and essentially a master’s degree requirement; the pool of available CPA candidates might get smaller. Hopefully, this research will shed some light on the effectiveness of the AICPA’s new policy and its relationship to the declining interest in accounting programs. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS Data Gathering The purpose of this research is to determine whether the adoption of the 150-hour requirement has had a negative affect on the number of accounting graduates from four-year accounting programs. In order to begin this research, the researcher identified those states which three years of graduation data were available, before and after the adoption of the 150-hour requirement. The AACSB compiled graduation data for business majors from colleges and universities that awarded at least 25 degrees in business. The first report included graduation data for the academic years ending 1992 through 1997 (AACSB, 1999). The AACSB updated the study for the 1998 (AACSB, 2000) and 1999 academic years (AACSB, 2001). For the purposes o f this research, the data from 1998 and 1999 were combined into one Excel spreadsheet, covering the academic year-ends from 1992 to 1999. The following is an analysis o f the research questions developed to test the hypothesis concerning the 150-hour requirement on the number of accounting graduates. Research Question 1 What institutions adopted the 150-hour requirement from June 1994 through April 1997, so that three years o f graduation data are available before and after the adoption of the requirement? 51 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 52 Adopting Institutions In order to have at least three years o f graduation data available, before and after adoption, states must have adopted the requirement during the 1994, 1995 or 1996 academic years. Four states adopted the requirement during this period and the universities in the respective states were included in this study (see Table 1). Those states that meet this requirement include Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah. Utah enacted legislation in 1981, but the requirement did not become effective until July, 1994. Alabama and Mississippi enacted the legislation in 1989 and 1990 respectively, which became effective in both states in 1995. Finally, in Louisiana, the 150-hour requirement became effective December 31, 1996. Since Alabama, as an example, adopted the requirement in July, 1994, three years o f graduation data are available before the adoption for the 1992, 1993 and 1994 academic year-ends. These data can be compared to graduation data from 1995, 1996 and 1997 - three years after the adoption of the requirement. From those states, 60 institutions o f higher education were identified that had at least 25 business degrees awarded during the period o f this study. Alabama led the way with 22 institutions reporting graduation data, followed by Louisiana with 18, Mississippi with 13, and Utah with 7. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 1 States That Have Adopted the ISO-Hour Requirement from June 1994 through April 1997 State Alabama Louisiana Mississippi Utah Enacted Date 1989 1990 1990 1981 Effective Date 1/1/1995 12/31/1996 2/1/1995 7/1/1994 Number of Reporting Institutions 22 18 13 7 54 Research Question 2 What institutions, if any, have not enacted any legislation for the 150-hour requirement? Non-Adopting Institutions Although the 150-hour requirement has been at least enacted, if not made effective in most states, there are still some states that have either have rejected the requirement or have adopted the requirement, but it will become effective at a future date. Accountants may still become CPAs in these states; however, they cannot become members of the AICPA until the 150-requirement has become law. The states that have either not enacted any legislation or will not enact legislation in the near future include California, Delaware, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Vermont (see Table 2). O f these states, California and Minnesota have 20 institutions with available graduation data, followed by New Hampshire and Vermont with 6, and Delaware with 5 (see Table 2). Accounting and business graduation data for these institutions will be compared to institutions in states that have adopted the 150-hour requirement to determine whether there is any correlation in the trend of accounting graduates. Research Question 3 Did the number of accounting graduates increase or decrease for the majority o f adopting institutions over the eight years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 2 States That Have Not Enacted Any Legislation for the 150- Hour Requirement State Number of Reporting Institutions California Delaware Minnesota New Hampshire Vermont 20 5 20 6 6 Total 55 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 56 Accounting Graduates Trend in Adopting Institutions Table 3 details the number of accounting degrees issued by adopting institutions for the eight-year period beginning with the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year. The data were organized by state in alphabetical order with institutions from Alabama first, followed by institutions from Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah. Table 3 shows that o f the 60 reporting institutions from these states, only 15 institutions reported an increase in the number of accounting graduates over the eight-year period. Of those institutions, Alabama A&M showed the largest growth in the number of bachelor’s of accounting degrees awarded o f the period measured. For the 1991-92 academic year, Alabama A&M awarded 19 bachelor’s of accounting degrees. By the 1998-99 academic year, the university awarded 58 accounting degrees, an increase o f 205%. This equates to an average annual growth rate of approximately 17%. The increase, however, is skewed by the fact that there was a substantial increase in graduates during the 1998-99 academic year. Discounting the 1998-99 academic year, the annual growth rate is closer to 8%. The data show that the number of graduates grew steadily from the 1991-92 academic year until the 1996-97 academic year, when they experienced an approximately 30% decline. Belhaven College in Mississippi also experienced accelerated growth in accounting graduates over the same period of time. However, Belhaven’s first year of data for the 1991-92 academic year showed only six accounting graduates. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 3 Total Accounting Bachelor's Degrees from Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION ACCOUNTING INSTITUTION NAME ALABAMA A & M UNIVERSITY ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHENS STATE COLLEGE AUBURN UNIV. MAIN CAMPUS AUBURN UNIV.-MONTGOMERY BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN COLL. JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIV. MILES COLLEGE OAKWOOD COLLEGE SAMFORD UNIVERSITY SPRING HILL COLLEGE THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA TROY STATE UNIV.-MAIN STATE AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL 1991199392 1992-93 94 19 24 62 219 58 43 38 0 12 29 10 215 69 23 25 86 225 60 35 43 6 11 22 9 213 66 21 41 114 136 48 41 65 3 18 28 7 173 69 199495 27 23 83 106 42 24 41 8 12 16 4 158 70 % 19951997CHG, 96 1996-97 98 1998-99 '92-'99 35 33 58 106 44 25 45 17 6 29 15 149 43 26 39 84 119 35 21 48 12 6 25 12 145 35 28 31 60 89 39 23 26 18 6 26 12 150 0 58 205% 22 -8% 66 6% 100 -54% 42 -28% 23 -47% 32 -16% 4 7 -42% 22 -24% 9 -10% 153 -29% 60 -13% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 3, continued. Total Accounting Bachelor's Degrees from Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION ACCOUNTING INSTITUTION NAME TROY STATE-MONTGOMERY TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY U. OF ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM U. OF ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE UNIVERSITY OF MOBILE UNIVERSITY OF MONTEVALLO UNIV. OF NORTH ALABAMA UNIV. OF SOUTH ALABAMA UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA DILLARD UNIVERSITY GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY LOUISIANA STATE U. & AG & MECH & HERBERT LAWS CTR LA. STATE UNIV.-SHREVEPORT % 19911994199319951997CHG, STATE 92 1992-93 94 95 96 1996-97 98 1998-99 '92-'99 AL 20 12 40 33 0 19 37 25 25% AL 17 27 33 22 22 15 18 17 0% 94 AL 102 96 84 88 71 57 65 -31% AL 37 57 39 30 -19% 37 43 25 23 AL 2 5 9 10 4 -33% 6 8 3 12 19 58% 26 19 13 15 AL 12 30 44 -49% 39 62 56 40 AL 74 35 86 40 47 58 61 -27% 84 70 52 AL 65 AL 21 11 12 8 9 -57% 16 15 16 24 12 -59% LA 29 18 25 26 13 15 59 46 43 42 -16% 54 65 51 LA 50 144 -25% 120 167 120 189 178 136 LA 191 LA 56 58 51 37 60 30 32 37 -34% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 3, continued. Total Accounting Bachelor's Degrees from Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION ACCOUNTING INSTITUTION NAME LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY LOYOLA UNIV.-NEW ORLEANS MCNEESE STATE UNIVERSITY NICHOLLS STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHEAST LOUISIANA UNIV. NORTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA OUR LADY OF HOLY CROSS SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA U. SOUTHERN U. AND A & M COLL. SOUTHERN U.-NEW ORLEANS TULANE UNIV. OF LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS UNIV. OF SOUTHWESTERN LA. 19911993- 1994- 19951997STATE 92 1992-93 94 95 96 1996-97 98 1998-99 LA 73 49 65 53 46 27 38 27 LA 31 34 32 36 26 14 22 29 32 34 LA 46 36 39 53 45 40 54 LA 50 56 55 42 29 32 35 64 64 LA 59 42 27 34 38 63 24 24 20 15 18 LA 125 29 31 LA LA LA LA LA LA LA 0 47 68 18 0 84 43 0 68 74 32 0 97 65 0 80 97 27 0 96 69 0 69 80 33 0 97 73 15 90 68 29 29 95 56 13 58 79 21 48 68 34 16 76 42 31 52 59 47 % CHG, '92-'99 -63% -6% 25% -36% -41% -84% 12 71 51% 50 -26% 19 6% 43 70 -17% 52 21% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 3, continued. Total Accounting Bachelor's Degrees from Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 2S or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION ACCOUNTING INSTITUTION NAME XAVIER UNIV. OF LOUISIANA ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY BELHAVEN COLLEGE DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY MILLSAPS COLLEGE MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY MISSISSIPPI UNIV. FOR WOMEN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE U. RUST COLLEGE U. OF MISSISSIPPI MAIN CAMPUS U. OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI WILLIAM CAREY COLLEGE % CHG, '92-'99 -38% 56% 200% -49% -34% -50% -33% -23% -16% 199119971993- 1994- 1995STATE 92 1992-93 94 1996-97 98 1998-99 95 96 12 9 LA 27 30 23 8 13 22 14 MS 9 18 10 17 14 10 15 24 MS 6 24 18 15 23 16 18 MS 34 55 39 18 16 20 28 25 MS 44 39 67 50 38 33 29 65 MS 24 29 19 18 10 20 23 12 MS 46 44 39 21 48 50 33 31 MS 115 86 115 89 93 75 85 88 MS 27 19 26 31 28 32 26 35 , 0 6 6 MS 0 0 0 0 0 11 11 12 4 -64% MS 4 12 7 9 112 22% 97 87 MS 92 90 86 126 95 118 100 -25% 107 96 116 MS 133 166 155 0 0 0 0 0 MS 9 9 0 - Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 3, continued. Total Accounting Bachelor's Degrees from Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION ACCOUNTING INSTITUTION NAME STATE BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY UT SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY UT UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UT UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY UT UTAH VALLEY STATE COLLEGE UT WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY UT WESTMINSTER COLLEGE UT OF SALT LAKE CITY 1991199392 1992-93 94 253 195 255 39 48 46 190 170 176 67 116 127 0 0 0 60 44 52 21 29 27 + Denotes an overall increase in graduates from year one to year eight. - Denotes an overall decrease in graduates from year one to year eight. % 1994- 19951997CHG, 95 96 1996-97 98 1998-99 '92-'99 102 236 246 290 296 17% 36 50 64 63 55 41% 153 155 164 192 175 -8% 126 95 115 78 108 61% 0 0 28 53 58 41 47 52 81 48 -20% 36 23 36 28 42 100% 62 In fact, the College graduated 24 accounting majors in the following year and steadily decreased to 18 graduates by the 1998-99 academic year. Of the 15 universities that experienced increases from year one to year eight, they all had at least two years where there was a significant decline in the number of accounting graduates from the previous year. If fact, none o f the universities reporting experienced steady and consistent growth in the number of bachelor’s of accounting degrees awarded, over the eight-year period. Conversely, during the eight-year period from the 1991-92 academic year to the 1998-99 academic year (Table 3) 49 of the 60, or 82% o f the universities reporting experienced a decline in the number of bachelor’s o f accounting degrees awarded. In almost all of these institutions, there was a discemable downward trend in the number of accounting degrees awarded. Northwest State University of Louisiana had the largest percentage decline with an 84% decrease from 1992 to 1999 (Table 3). The university awarded 125 bachelor’s of accounting degrees for the 1991 -92 academic year. Eight years later, the university awarded only 20. The largest decrease in total number o f accounting graduates occurred at Auburn University - Main Campus. The number of accounting graduates declined from 219 for the 1991-92 academic year, to 100 for the 1998-99 academic year - a decline of 119 graduates (Table 3). The decline in graduates at Auburn University was steady throughout the eight-year period. Several colleges and universities were in the process of starting new accounting programs and did not have any graduates for the 1991-92 academic Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 63 years. Growth for theses institutions was calculated from the first year they reported data. Accounting Degrees by Adopting State Table 4 shows the total number o f bachelor’s of accounting degrees awarded by each adopting state. Institutions in Alabama awarded 1,175 accounting degrees for the 1991-91 academic year. By the 1997-98 academic year the number of graduates declined steadily to 773, before rebounding to 872 in 1999. This constituted a decrease of approximately 26% (Table 4). The most dramatic decrease for institutions in Alabama occurred from 1994 to 1995, when there was a 20% decrease in one year. This decrease coincides with Alabama’s adoption of the 150-hour requirement in January 1995. Institutions in Louisiana also experienced a significant decline over the eight-year period. Institutions in Louisiana awarded 974 bachelor’s of accounting degrees for the 1991 -92 academic year, which declined to 746 by 1999. This constituted a 23% decline in accounting graduates. There was not, however, a consistent annual decline in graduates in Louisiana as there was in Alabama. In fact, there was a slight increase in graduates from 1993 to 1994. The largest annual decline in Louisiana occurred from 1996 to 1997 when the number o f accounting graduates went from 922 to 696 - a 25% decline. The decline in Louisiana also coincided with the state’s adoption o f the 150-hour requirement. Institutions in Mississippi also experienced a significant decline in accounting graduates over the eight-year period. The decline in graduates in Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 4 Total Number of Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees Conferred by State in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah from 1992 to 1999 Academic Year Ending 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Inc./(Dec.) Alabama Louisiana Mississippi Utah 1,175 974 575 630 1,189 973 665 602 1,168 994 580 683 930 885 515 463 878 922 449 637 852 696 455 704 773 749 457 786 872 746 468 782 -26% -23% -19% 24% Total Number of Accounting Degrees 3,354 3,429 3,425 2,793 2,886 2,707 2,765 2,868 Annual Overall % Increase/(Decrease) - Total % Change 1992 -1999 2.2% -0.1% -22.6% 3.2% -14% Note: lnc./(Dec.) denotes total percentage change from year one to year eight. -6.6% 2.1% 3.6% 65 Mississippi was more gradual than that of Alabama and Louisiana. Over the eightyear period, the number of accounting graduates went from 575 in 1992 to 468 in 1999 - a 19% decrease. The largest one-year decrease occurred from the 1993 to 1994 academic year. From 1993 to 1994 the total number of graduates from colleges and universities in Mississippi went from 665 to 580 - a decrease of 13% in one year. Institutions in Utah, on the other hand, experience a significant overall increase in the total number of bachelor’s of accounting degrees awarded over the eight-year period. The total number of accounting graduates grew from 630 in 1992 to 782 in 1999 - a 24% increase. The number of accounting graduates grew steadily in Utah until 1995 when it decreased from 683 to 463, or by 32% (Table 4). That, coincidently, is the same year that the 150-hour requirement was adopted in Utah. In summary, three of the four states that adopted the 150-hour requirement and are included in this study experienced a significant decline in the number of accounting graduates during the eight-year period. Institutions in Utah, however, had an increase in the number of bachelor's of accounting degrees awarded over the same eight-year period. Overall, the combined number of bachelor’s o f accounting degrees awarded in the four states declined by 14% over the eight-year academic period from 1991 -92 to 1998-99. The decline in accounting graduates was the most dramatic from the 1994 to 1995 academic years. This also coincides with the adoption of the 150-hour requirement in each state. The total number of Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 66 accounting graduates went from 3,425 in 1994 to 2,793 in 1995 - a 23% decline. From 1995 on, the number o f accounting graduates was consistent in the four states combined. Figure 1 shows an increasing trend from 1992 through 1994 and a sudden decrease in the 1995 academic year. After 1995, the figure shows a consistent number of graduates, albeit lower than the pre-adoption totals. Research Question 4 Did the overall number of bachelor’s degrees awarded increase or decrease for reporting institutions in adopting states over the eight academic years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? Total Bachelor's Degrees Trend Based on the data in Tables 3 & 4, it is clear that the number of bachelor’s of accounting degrees awarded during the eight-year period from 1992 to 1999 was declining. However, this could be explained if the overall number o f bachelor’s degrees awarded also declined over the eight-year period. A decline in the total number of bachelor degrees could occur as the result o f a change in demographics, such as a change in the total number of students entering college. In order to determine whether the decline in the number of accounting graduates is simply the product o f a reduction o f the total number of bachelor’s degrees awarded Table 5 was prepared, which shows the total number o f undergraduate (bachelor’s) degrees awarded by institutions in adopting states over the same eight-year academic period 1991-92 to 1998-99. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 5 Total Bachelor's Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business. INSTITUTION NAME ALABAMA A & M UNIVERSITY ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHENS STATE COLLEGE AUBURN UNIV. MAIN CAMPUS AUBURN UNIV -MONTGOMERY BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN COLL JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIV. MILES COLLEGE OAKWOOD COLLEGE SAMFORD UNIVERSITY SPRING HILL COLLEGE THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA TROY STATE UNIV.-MAIN CAMPUS TROY STATE U.-MONTGOMERY UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES TOTAL-ALL FIELDS 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 199596 94 STATE 92 93 95 AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL 380 242 995 4,193 730 449 1,116 76 148 623 194 2,957 850 218 199697 199798 199899 589 600 507 576 433 419 504 311 360 399 956 1,040 1,127 992 1,000 4,104 3,990 3,527 3,586 3,672 763 696 828 851 798 336 316 358 370 293 1,101 1,149 1,040 1,041 1,056 140 92 72 143 115 202 212 170 207 187 698 742 579 642 633 219 202 211 201 185 3,062 3,043 2,785 2,684 2,683 949 1,021 1,405 934 999 209 231 271 245 193 544 538 1053 3735 648 334 1053 176 221 608 218 2677 993 219 504 474 854 3921 702 284 1047 153 193 626 213 2743 1057 242 % CHG '92-'99 33% 96% -14% -6% -4% -37% -6% 101% 30% 0% 10% -7% 24% 11% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 5, continued. Total Bachelor's Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business. INSTITUTION NAME TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY U. OF ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM U. OF ALABAMA-HUNTSV1LLE UNIVERSITY OF MOBILE UNIVERSITY OF MONTEVALLO UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA DILLARD UNIVERSITY GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY LOUISIANA STATE U. & AG & MECH & HERBERT LAWS CTR LOUISIANA STATE U.-SHREVEPORT LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES TOTAL-ALL FIELDS 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 1995STATE 92 93 94 95 96 199697 199798 199899 % CHG, '92-'99 AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL LA LA LA 413 1,487 607 163 446 777 1,277 240 199 565 3,189 494 506 491 526 1,604 1,582 1,610 1,556 655 707 627 585 183 281 299 312 505 500 447 438 764 837 827 773 1,316 1,407 1,453 1,494 234 212 254 225 194 212 236 223 807 849 855 908 3,204 3,154 3,149 3,005 439 1,720 575 282 444 800 1,417 257 209 830 2,978 416 1581 592 292 447 804 1588 233 297 875 3122 1057 1528 674 286 484 819 1468 271 214 807 3451 156% 3% 11% 75% 9% 5% 15% 13% LA LA 429 1,261 444 1,205 542 1,208 415 1,152 432 1194 449 1214 5% -4% 422 1,242 401 1,215 8% 43% 8% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 5, continued. Total Bachelor’s Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business. INSTITUTION NAME LOYOLA UNIV.-NEW ORLEANS MCNEESE STATE UNIVERSITY NICHOLLS STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHEAST LOUISIANA UNIV. NORTHWESTERN STATE U. OF LA. OUR LADY OF HOLY CROSS COLL. SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA UNIV. SOUTHERN UNIV. AND A & M COLL. SOUTHERN UNIV.-NEW ORLEANS TULANE UNIV. OF LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS U. OF SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA XAVIER UNIV. OF LOUISIANA ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES TOTAL - ALL FIELDS 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 199596 94 92 93 95 STATE LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA MS 665 719 663 1,241 628 122 890 848 306 1,423 1,324 1,523 343 289 702 801 650 1,295 759 144 959 812 356 1,397 1,352 1,582 494 349 665 729 636 1,253 746 152 1,006 903 422 1,257 1,350 1,696 367 408 591 799 667 1,292 765 139 1,074 836 421 1,301 1,430 1,643 419 388 605 750 647 1,245 702 145 1,199 955 472 1,264 1,343 1,603 444 419 199697 199798 633 803 584 1,234 802 192 1,165 985 465 1,141 1,176 1,578 379 389 708 856 606 1259 828 199 1362 1078 480 1168 1305 1616 425 430 199899 689 833 702 1263 886 160 1428 997 439 1255 1237 1623 409 408 % CHG '92-'99 4% 16% 6% 2% 41% 31% 60% 18% 43% -12% -7% 7% 19% 41% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 5, continued. Total Bachelor's Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business. INSTITUTION NAME BELHAVEN COLLEGE DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY MILLSAPS COLLEGE MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY MISSISSIPPI UNIV. FOR WOMEN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIV. RUST COLLEGE U. OF MISSISSIPPI MAIN CAMPUS UNIV. OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI WILLIAM CAREY COLLEGE BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES TOTAL-ALL FIELDS 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996STATE 92 94 95 96 97 93 MS MS MS MS MS MS MS MS MS MS MS MS UT UT 147 186 646 639 682 639 285 268 570 561 2,141 2,231 330 343 206 240 142 124 1,587 1,769 2,425 2,581 241 290 5,326 5,590 585 531 209 654 735 236 555 2,177 350 200 172 1,653 2,383 334 6,249 624 229 641 697 231 481 2,193 395 222 149 1,523 2,274 401 6,088 620 204 260 590 570 644 702 265 280 441 506 2,092 2,106 344 339 169 275 148 163 1,521 1,556 2,068 2,176 450 460 6,548 6,532 734 671 199798 199899 296 596 629 274 441 2141 359 285 129 1511 2236 425 6384 846 250 647 708 261 431 2141 362 348 135 1567 2486 400 7303 842 % CHG, '92-'99 70% 0% 11% -8% -24% 0% 10% 69% -5% -1% 3% 66% 37% 44% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 5, continued. Total Bachelor's Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business. INSTITUTION NAME UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY UTAH VALLEY STATE COLLEGE WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY WESTMINSTER COLLEGE OF SALT LAKE CITY UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES TOTAL - ALL FIELDS 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 199594 96 STATE 92 93 95 UT UT UT UT UT 2,999 1,653 3,137 1,823 , 1,153 278 1,324 289 3,375 3,354 3,567 1,954 2,200 2,315 , 112 18 1,485 1,565 1,672 297 318 320 199697 3,725 2,442 157 1,597 331 199798 4124 2583 272 1809 317 199899 4174 2726 294 1572 328 % CH< ’92-’9< 39% 65% . 36% 18% 73 Table 5 shows that of the 60 institutions reporting, only 13 institutions show ed a decline in the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded, over the eightyear period. Birmingham Southern College had the largest decline in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded with a 37% decline over the eight-year period. However, even in those colleges that did experience a decline, only four o f the 13 institutions experienced a decreased of more than 10% (Table 5). The decline in the other nine institutions was not significant. Fifty-one of the 60 institutions reported an increase in the number o f undergraduate degrees awarded over the eight-year period. Tuskegee University had the largest percentage increase over the eight-year period, at 156%. This increase was skewed due to a large influx of graduates at Tuskegee in the 1998-99 academic year. Exactly half o f the universities responding reported double-digit percentage growth in the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in the eight-year period. Table 6 shows the total number o f bachelor’s degrees awarded by state, for adopting institutions. Reporting institutions in Alabama awarded 18,581 total bachelor’s degrees in the 1991-92 academic year and 19,600 by 1998-99 - a 5% increase. Annual growth, however, was not consistent. The total number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in Louisiana grew 11% over the eight-year period from 16,338 in 1992 to 18,056 in 1999. Over the same period of time, the number o f bachelor’s degrees awarded in Mississippi grew by 5%. Utah had the most dramatic growth in bachelor’s degrees awarded, at 44%. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 6 Total Number of Bachelor's Degrees Conferred in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah from 1992 to 1999 Academic Year Ending 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Alabama Louisiana Mississippi Utah 18,581 16,338 9,648 11,994 19,313 17,186 10,263 12,694 19,801 17,102 10,066 13,984 18,623 17,203 9,824 14,163 18,826 17,220 9,420 15,205 19,329 16,721 9,717 15,518 18,970 17,810 9,752 16,335 19,600 18,056 10,144 17,239 Total Number of Bachelor's Degrees 56,561 59,456 60,953 59,813 60,671 61,285 62,867 65,039 Annual % Increase^Decrease) Total % Change 1992 - 1999 . 4.9% 2.5% -1.9% 1.4% 1.0% 2.5% 3.3% 15% Note: Inc./(Decr.) denotes total percentage change from year one to year eight. Total % change denotes total change from year one to year eight for universities in all four states. Inc./(De 5% 11% 5% 44% 75 This could explain why Utah was the only state to show an increase in the number of accounting degrees awarded by the state’s institutions. Overall, the total number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in adopting states grew by 15%, over the eight-year period. Annually, the number of bachelor’s degrees grew modestly every year, except for 1995, when it decreased by 1.9% (Table 6). Coincidently, this is the same year in which the total number of bachelor’s of accounting degrees had its steepest decline. Figure 2 shows an annual increase in total bachelor’s degrees awarded from 1992 to 1994 in adopting states, before declining in 1995 academic year. The Figure shows consistent growth from 1995 onward. In summary, the data indicate that there was a positive trend in the total number of bachelor’s degrees awarded from adopting institutions over the eightyear period from 1991-92 through the 1998-99 academic year. Therefore, it can be concluded that the decline in the number of bachelor’s o f accounting degrees conferred in adopting states was not due to a corresponding decline in the overall number of bachelor’s degrees awarded. Research Question 5 Did the overall number of bachelor’s o f business degrees awarded increase or decrease for reporting institutions in adopting states over the eight academic years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission 77 Bachelor's of Business Degrees Trend One factor that could explain the decrease in the number of bachelor’s of accounting degrees awarded is if the decline occurred at the same time that there was a decline in overall number of business degrees awarded. Table 7 shows the total number of business degrees awarded by adopting institutions during the eight-year period from the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year. The data indicate that during the eight-year period, 41 o f the 60 reporting institutions experienced declines in the number of bachelor degrees awarded over the eight-year period. Alcom State University experienced the largest percentage decline over the eight-year period going from 86 business degrees awarded in 1991-92, to 44 by 1998-99 - a 49% decrease. The largest numerical decrease occurred at Auburn University’s Main campus where the total number of business graduates declined from 1,091 in 1992 to 888 by 1999, a decline of 203 or 19%. The data indicate that a majority o f the reporting institutions in adopting states report declines in both the number of accounting graduates and overall business graduates. Fifty-one of the 60 institutions reported overall declines in the number of accounting degrees awarded while 41 of the 60 institutions reported decreases in the number of business degrees awarded. This suggests that the decline in the number of accounting graduates could be related to a declining interest in business as a major field of study, not just accounting. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 7 Total Business Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business. INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION INSTITUTION NAME ALABAMA A & M UNIVERSITY ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHENS STATE COLLEGE AUBURN UNIV. MAIN CAMPUS AUBURN UNIV.-MONTGOMERY BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN COLLEGE JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY MILES COLLEGE OAKWOOD COLLEGE SAMFORD UNIVERSITY SPRING HILL COLLEGE THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA TROY STATE UNIV.-MAIN CAMPUS TROY STATE UNIV.-MONTGOMERY TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY TOTAL - UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS DEGREES 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- % CH< STATE 92 94 97 93 95 96 98 99 '92-'95 AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL AL 141 123 64 65 432 357 1,091 1,037 212 249 186 133 240 252 32 35 24 19 134 133 42 38 802 803 244 247 119 109 79 92 147 86 462 914 202 136 240 29 35 103 46 770 226 157 111 170 78 422 716 192 103 162 52 27 85 34 737 201 160 98 132 90 387 721 191 121 158 48 37 109 42 714 209 132 81 134 93 410 746 175 111 145 42 51 114 35 689 364 130 54 107 95 367 789 167 114 141 44 54 113 48 688 213 129 64 122 66 304 888 198 99 160 48 32 123 38 778 230 154 61 -1% 3% -15% -19% -7% -47% -33% 50% 68% -8% -10% -3% -7% 29% -23% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 7, continued. Total Buiineat Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business. INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION INSTITUTION NAME U. OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM U. OF ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE UNIVERSITY OF MOBILE UNIVERSITY OF MONTEVALLO UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA DILLARD UNIVERSITY GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY LOUISIANA STATE U. & AG & MECH & HERBERT LAWS CTR LOUISIANA STATE U.-SHREVEPORT LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY LOYOLA UNIVERSITY-NEW ORLEANS MCNEESE STATE UNIVERSITY NICHOLLS STATE UNIVERSITY TOTAL - UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS DEGREES 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- % CHG, 98 •92-'99 92 94 96 97 99 STATE 93 95 238 301 254 295 299 -15% AL 369 333 351 141 121 103 130 -27% 152 122 AL 177 163 77 72 243% 67 66 21 19 81 93 AL 62 65 81 27% 64 84 48 57 AL 75 185 212 -21% 179 210 270 228 193 AL 258 241 248 253 273 286 3% AL 277 261 266 62 54 49 70 58 12% 52 55 AL 55 40 54 36 30 33 -46% 46 LA 61 48 170 -6% 152 216 192 202 163 143 LA 190 532 528 488 475 666 13% LA 587 589 553 LA LA LA LA LA 141 327 165 124 159 145 292 131 133 148 137 262 168 112 111 105 232 143 112 120 165 214 120 105 120 101 176 134 125 83 137 200 146 118 89 129 198 146 120 112 -9% -39% -12% -3% -30% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 7, continued. Total Business Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business. INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION INSTITUTION NAME NORTHEAST LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN STATE U. OF LA. OUR LADY OF HOLY CROSS COLLEGE SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA UNIV. SOUTHERN UNIV. AND A Sl M COLL. SOUTHERN UNIV.-NEW ORLEANS TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS U. OF SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY BELHAVEN COLLEGE DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY MILLSAPS COLLEGE MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE TOTAL - UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS DEGREES 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- % CHG, STATE 92 94 93 95 96 97 98 99 '92-'99 LA 227 206 192 201 168 143 165 190 -16% LA 94 129 102 91 143 103 107 116 -10% LA 21 25 29 33 33 25 26 22 5% LA 304 321 281 308 293 278 327 313 11% LA 182 189 218 142 169 149 125 117 -36% LA 121 111 102 91 86 87 76 -37% 135 LA 144 168 157 158 136 150 176 257 53% LA 380 389 426 449 448 430 340 388 -9% LA 277 276 277 236 210 264 231 -13% 266 LA 69 72 67 48 43 29 -37% 46 35 34 47 44 -49% MS 76 42 46 86 83 122 144 111 85% 71 87 82 MS 60 78 159 -37% 150 118 151 254 214 190 MS 185 138 135 127 -42% 189 156 219 227 243 MS 71 60 -24% 44 55 50 49 MS 79 65 73 100 -38% 106 86 153 125 MS 161 151 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 7, continued. Total Business Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business. INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION INSTITUTION NAME MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY MISSISSIPPI UNIV. FOR WOMEN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIV. RUST COLLEGE UNIV. OF MISSISSIPPI MAIN CAMPUS UNIV. OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI WILLIAM CAREY COLLEGE BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY UTAH VALLEY STATE COLLEGE WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY WESTMINSTER COLL. OF SALT LAKE CITY TOTAL - UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS DEGREES 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- •/• CHG, STATE 92 94 96 97 99 '92-'99 93 95 98 474 659 666 548 479 564 -14% MS 550 579 71 82 79 58 75 55 60 61 -14% MS 44 17 38 23 33 40 54 42% MS 31 46 32 32 27 MS 28 38 27 37 -20% 552 544 450 445 MS 576 463 436 493 -11% 569 358 369 MS 626 496 397 413 486 -15% 42 30 41 51 42 43 43% MS 45 27 622 686 502 605 699 857 25% UT 600 603 114 121 102 104 165 140 37% UT 101 89 494 481 434 506 585 601 25% UT 468 436 318 434 58% 274 321 321 326 350 UT 336 . 106 129 210 247 UT 0 0 0 18 5% 204 226 215 276 207 197 199 199 UT 111 no 129 24% 104 97 127 103 111 UT Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 7, continued. Total Business Degrees for Adopting Institutions, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business. INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION INSTITUTION NAME TOTAL - UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS DEGREES 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- % CHG, '92-'99 STATE 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 Note: % Chg. "92-99” denotes total percentage change from year one to year eight. 83 Bachelor’s of Business Degrees by State Table 8 shows the total number of bachelor’s of business degrees awarded by state in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah, over the eight-year period from the academic year ending 1992 through 1999. The data show that the total number of undergraduate business degrees awarded declined in three of the four adopting states, over the eight-year period. Mississippi had the largest decline, going from 2,824 business degrees awarded in the 1991-92 academic year to 2,339 - a 17% decline. Alabama and Louisiana also experienced declines of 10% and 8%, respectively, over the eight-year period. Not surprisingly, institutions in Utah experienced significant growth in the number of undergraduate business degrees awarded over the eight-year period. Institutions in Utah had a 42% increase in the number of business degrees awarded going from 1,844 in 1992 to 2,615 by 1999. Overall, the number of bachelor’s of business degrees awarded in the four adopting states declined by 4%, over the eight-year period. The largest decline occurred between the 1994 and 1995 academic years when there was a 10.9% drop in undergraduate business degrees awarded (Table 8). Figure 3 shows how significant the decline in business degrees was from 1994 to 1995. The chart shows a slight decline from 1993 to 1994 and a more dramatic decline in 1995. From 1995 on, the chart shows an upward trend in business degrees in adopting states (Figure 3). Over the eight-year period measured, institutions in Utah had significant growth in the number o f accounting degrees awarded (24% increase), the number Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 10.500 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Total Number of Bachelor's of Business Degrees Conferred in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah from 1992 to 1999 Academic Year Ending 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 lnc./(De< Alabama Louisiana Mississippi Utah 4,958 3,583 2,824 1,844 4,997 3,638 2,878 1,782 4,853 3,517 2,550 1,813 4,277 3,257 2,270 1,681 4,185 3,137 2,032 1,968 4,365 2,798 2,086 2,054 4136 3140 2118 2363 4439 3287 2339 2615 -10% Total Number of Accounting Degrees 13,209 13,295 12,733 11,485 11,322 11,303 11,757 12,680 -10.9% -1.4% Annual % Increase/ (Decrease) Total % Change 1992 - 1999 0.6% -4.4% -4% -0.2% 3.9% 7.3% nO 1992 OC i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 8 -17% 42% 86 of total bachelor’s degrees awarded (44% increase), and the total number of undergraduate business degrees awarded (42% increase). It appears from this data that the increase in the number o f accounting degrees awarded in Utah may be directly correlated with the increase in the number of overall bachelor’s degrees awarded and the number of business degrees awarded in the state. On the other hand, institutions in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi experienced declines in the number of accounting graduates, total undergraduates and business graduates over the eight-year period. Institutions in Alabama experienced a 26% decline in the number o f accounting degrees awarded, a 5% decline in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded, and a 10% decline in the number of undergraduate business degrees awarded. Institutions in Louisiana experienced a 23% decline in the number o f accounting graduates, an 11 % decline in the number of undergraduate degrees, and an 8% decline in undergraduate business degrees. Finally, institutions in Mississippi experienced a 19% decline in the number of accounting graduates, a 5% decline in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded, and a 17% decline in the number of undergraduate business degrees awarded. Similar to the trend in Utah, there appears to be a correlation between the total number of bachelor’s degrees, business degrees and accounting degrees awarded in these states. However, the number of accounting graduates declined at a faster rate than the decline in undergraduate degrees or undergraduate business degrees in these states. Moreover, growth in accounting graduates in Utah was slower than the state’s growth in undergraduate and undergraduate business degrees awarded. This Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 87 suggests that the number of accounting graduates declined at a higher rate than other business programs. Research Question 6 Did the percentage of bachelor's of accounting graduates as a percentage of total undergraduate degrees awarded increase or decrease in adopting states over the eight academic years beginning with the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year for those institutions that have adopted the 150-hour requirement between June 1994 to April 1997? Percentage Trend In Accounting Degrees to Total Degrees In order to gather more evidence as to whether the decline in accounting graduates corresponded with the decline in total undergraduate degrees and total business degrees. Table 9 was prepared which shows the percentage of accounting degrees to total undergraduate degrees for adopting institutions for the eight-year period from the 1991-92 academic year to the 1998-99 academic year. By looking at the percentage relationship, one can determine whether the decline in accounting graduates occurred at the same rate as total undergraduates. For example, during the 1991-92 academic year, approximately 5% of the undergraduate class at Alabama A&M University graduated with an accounting degree. The percentage of accounting graduates stay around 4% to 6% until 1999, when 12% of the graduating class majored in accounting. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 9 Percentage of Bachelor of Accounting Degrees for Adopting Universities as a Percentage of Total Institutional Degrees, 1991-92 to 1998 99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business. Increase Percentage Before 150 c Percentage Before 150 = Percentage After 150 29.49 29.56 1,445.00 266.00 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 14, continued. Comparison of the Three-Year Average Percentage of Accounting Graduates to Total Undergraduates Before the Adoption of the 150-Hour Requirement to the Three-Year Average Percentage After the Adoption of the 150-Hour Requirement Based on WUcoxon Signed Ranks Test Test Statistics Percentage After 150 Percentage Before 150 z Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) -4.565 0.00 a Based on positive ranks, b Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test 120 The third chart in Table 14 shows the test statistic based on the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. The test statistic detects differences in the distributions of two related variables. The sum of the ranks for the less frequent variable is standardized, which in this case is the positive ranks. Small significance values ( UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN HUNTSVILLE UNIVERSITY OF MOBILE UNIVERSITY OF MONTEVALLO UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA DILLARD UNIVERSITY GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY LOUISIANA STATE UNIV & AG & MECH & HEBERT LAWS CTR LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY-SHREVEPORT LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY LOYOLA UNIVERSITY-NEW ORLEANS MCNEESE STATE UNIVERSITY NICHOLLS STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHEAST LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA OUR LADY OF HOLY CROSS COLLEGE SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AND A & M COLLEGE SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY-NEW ORLEANS 27% 11% 30% 29% 27% 32% 23% 18% 42% 28% 24% 24% 34% 35% 37% 30% 4% 31% 50% 25% 28% 9% 26% 23% 19% 22% 48% 28% 23% 27% 16% 15% 34% 34% 20% 20% 53% 22% 44% 29% + + N/A N/A Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 15, continued. Three-Year Average Percentage of Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees to Total Undergraduate Business Degrees Before And After Adoption of the 150-Hour Requirement TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY BELHAVEN COLLEGE DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY MILLSAPS COLLEGE MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY MISSISSIPPI UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY RUST COLLEGE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MAIN CAMPUS UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI WILLIAM CAREY COLLEGE BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 4% 26% 34% 49% 15% 25% 18% 26% 37% 31% 17% 39% 0% 21% 19% 27% 18% 37% 43% 39% 25% 18% 19% 27% 32% 20% 15% 26% 32% 37% 16% 47% 0% 33% 20% 28% 0% 34% 46% 33% + - - - + - - N/A - + - + N/A + + -F - - + - Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 15, continued. Three-Year Average Percentage of Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees to Total Undergraduate Business Degrees Before And After Adoption of the 150-Hour Requirement UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY UTAH VALLEY STATE COLLEGE WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY WESTMINSTER COLLEGE OF SALT LAKE CITY to Ul 33% 0% 26% 23% 34% 11% 22% 30% + + - + 126 Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. The first chart shows descriptive statistics for variables in the analysis. The chart indicates that the mean percentage of accounting graduates to total business graduates for reporting institutions was 26.117% for the three years prior to the adoption of the 150-hour requirement compared to a three-year average o f 25.167% after the adoption. For the purposes of this analysis, a 1% decline is not significant. The chart also indicates that the maximum percentage of accounting graduates to total graduates for adopting institutions was 53% before and after the adoption. Since there were institutions that either did not have an established accounting program or discontinued the program during the period o f study, the minimum percentage was 0.0%. The second chart in Table 16 shows the results of the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. The chart shows that in 35 of the 60 institutions, the percentage of accounting degrees declined, while 22 experienced an increase, and three remained the same. The sum o f the ranks is a numerical value o f the sum of the two groups. In this case, the sum of the ranks is lower but not significantly lower after the adoption of the 150-hour requirement. The third chart in Table 16 shows the test statistic based on the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. Again, the test statistic detects differences in the distributions of two related variables. The sum of the ranks for the less frequent variable is standardized, which in this case is the positive ranks. Small significance values ( % of Bus. Undergraduates Before 150 c % of Bus. Undergraduates Before 150 = % of Bus. Undergraduates After 150 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 16, continued. Comparison of the Three-Year Average Percentage of Accounting Graduates to Total Business Undergraduates Before the Adoption of the ISO-Hour Requirement to the Three-Year Average After the Adoption of the 150-Hour Requirement Based on Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test Test Statistics'1 % of Bus. Undergraduates After 1SO - % of Bus. Undergraduates Before ISO z -1.387 1 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.16S a Based on positive ranks, b Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. 130 the value is larger than the mean and a negative Z-value indicates that the value is smaller than the mean. The third chart shows a Z-value o f -1.387, indicating that the positive ranks were 1.387 standard deviations below the mean. In summary, the results of the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test indicate that there was not a significant difference in the average percentage of accounting graduates to total business graduates before the adoption of the 150-hour requirement compared to the average percentage after the requirement. Thus the null hypothesis is not rejected because there is no significant difference in the two groups. This reinforces the premise that although there was a significant decline in the number of accounting graduates, it coincided with a corresponding decline in overall business graduates. Research Question 11 Did the overall number of accounting graduates increase or decrease in non-adopting institutions over the eight years beginning the 1991 -92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? Overall Trend in Accounting Graduates over the Eight-Year Period In order to determine if the 150-hour requirement had a significant effect on the number of accounting graduates in adopting states, accounting graduation trends in institutions in non-adopting states were analyzed and compared with trends in adopting states, for the same eight academic year period from 1991-92 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 131 through 1998-99. If the data indicated that institutions in both adopting and non­ adopting states had similar declines in accounting graduates over a similar period of time, it would support the assertion that the 150-hour requirement was not the primary factor that led to a decline in the number of accounting graduates. Conversely, if the data indicated that institutions in non-adopting states experienced little or no decline in accounting graduates, it would support the theory that the 150-hour requirement indeed had an effect on the number of accounting graduates. Table 17 shows the number of accounting degrees awarded from institutions in California, Delaware, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Vermont. These states have not enacted legislation for the 150-hour requirement. Overall, 57 institutions were identified in the five states as having business programs that awarded at least 25 degrees in business. Of the 57 institutions reporting, 43 or approximately 75% experienced declines in the number of accounting graduates over the eight-year period. This compares to a decline in accounting graduates of 77% o f the institutions in adopting states. Overall, the total number of accounting graduates in the five non­ adopting states went from 2,090 in 1992 to 1,377 in 1999 - a 34% decline. Interestingly, this shows that the number of accounting graduates declined at a much faster rate in institutions from states that had not adopted the 150-hour requirement, than in those that had. The number of accounting graduates declined by only 14% in adopting states, over the eight-year period. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 17 Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business A/Y 1997. INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION ACCOUNTING INSTITUTION NAME AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY-ACADEMIC CENT DEVRY INSTITUTE OF TECH.-POMONA FRESNO PACIFIC UNIVERSITY GOLDEN GATE UNIV.-SAN FRANCISCO LA SIERRA UNIVERSITY LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY POINT LOMA NAZARENE COLLEGE SAINT MARY'S COLL. OF CALIFORNIA 1991STATE 92 CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA 7 14 13 73 3 59 1992- 199394 93 199495 6 6 24 6 49 II 10 6 90 2 63 . 45 96 26 8 28 67 100 26 7 35 . 11 52 7 . 62 83 21 6 32 , 73 11 45 65 26 5 36 199596 6 18 21 91 1 69 6 66 55 24 6 24 % 1996- 1997- 1998- CHG, 99 '92 '99 98 97 10 19 8 53 9 56 7 54 46 19 5 25 11 16 0 77 4 74 4 38 66 22 3 28 1 0 0 66 2 47 7 48 22 17 2 29 -86% 14% -38% -10% -33% -20% -36% 7% -77% -35% -75% 4% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 17, continued. Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business A/Y 1997. SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COLLEGE U S INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LAVERNE UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO WOODBURY UNIVERSITY DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY GOLDEY-BEACOM COLLEGE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE WESLEY COLLEGE WILMINGTON COLLEGE AUGSBURG COLLEGE BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SAINT BENEDICT COLLEGE OF SAINT CATHERINESAINT CATHERINE CAMPUS CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA DE DE DE DE DE MN MN MN MN 57 2 1 69 6 . . 5 60 29 9 28 33 113 12 29 36 30 15 28 67 7 65 4 58 4 58 3 34 6 58 30 12 30 43 123 10 22 37 16 10 11 51 7 62 31 6 19 47 107 10 23 25 41 14 18 40 II 83 26 7 18 28 83 16 25 32 37 14 17 . 7 64 42 12 26 34 130 11 24 30 51 9 33 47 7 69 35 12 16 54 119 7 16 31 34 15 30 54 6 0 31 10 78 35 4 19 38 69 10 44 35 14 16 18 45 9 0 20 4 64 38 9 34 37 75 7 39 16 25 17 19 -21% 350% N/A -57% -20% 7% 31% 0% 21% 12% -34% -42% 34% -56% -17% 13% -32% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 17, continued. Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business A/Y 1997. COLLEGE OF SAINT SCHOLASTICA CONCORDIA COLLEGE AT MOORHEAD CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE MANKATO STATE UNIVERSITY METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY MOORHEAD STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE SAINT CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY SAINT JOHNS UNIVERSITY SAINT MARY'S UNIV. OF MINNESOTA SOUTHWEST STATE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-DULUTH UNIV. OF MINNESOTA-TWIN CITIES UNIVERSITY OF ST THOMAS WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY DANIEL WEBSTER COLLEGE FRANKLIN PIERCE COLLEGE MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN NH NH 10 31 3 38 120 , 99 10 124 42 16 32 80 159 127 57 . 90 11 23 4 22 120 • 116 2 118 32 15 29 68 161 132 58 0 77 11 21 6 13 122 , 90 7 113 28 12 26 74 150 106 59 • 81 12 16 9 13 95 100 105 9 112 26 7 22 65 145 94 68 0 91 9 19 10 23 69 96 69 3 77 17 12 26 61 119 87 71 1 70 5 20 4 18 59 72 49 12 63 28 12 15 58 137 96 54 5 64 10 24 6 11 86 64 43 10 85 24 8 29 41 120 80 52 6 8 2 14 2 8 60 0 41 8 52 31 0 0 61 108 93 41 3 10 -80% -55% -33% -79% -50% -36% -59% -20% -58% -26% -50% -9% -24% -32% -27% -28% 200% -89% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 17, continued. Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business A/Y 1997. NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE PLYMOUTH STATE COLLEGE RIVIER COLLEGE SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE CASTLETON STATE COLLEGE CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE NORWICH UNIVERSITY SAINT MICHAELS COLLEGE TRINITY COLLEGE OF VERMONT UNIV. OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE NH NH NH NH VT VT VT VT VT VT 113 17 10 28 17 127 36 14 , , , 8 13 21 10 17 13 10 25 7 14 18 , 9 18 18 67 29 12 8 12 32 11 11 22 83 II 6 12 13 35 4 16 9 86 17 1 7 16 27 6 8 9 89 17 10 6 16 21 5 19 8 0 41 -64% 15 - 12 % 4 -60% 11 38% 7 -13% 23 10% 8 - 11% 21 17% 14 - 22 % 0 ACCOUNTING % 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- CHG, 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 '92-'99 2,090 2,072 2,016 2,050 1,938 1,757 1,722 1,377 -34% 136 Figure 4 is a chart o f the eight-year trend in accounting graduates in non­ adopting states. The chart shows that except for 1995, there was a steady annual decrease in the number of accounting degrees awarded, over the eight-year period. The chart also shows that the most significant decline occurred between the 199798 and 1998-99 academic years. Research Question 12 Did the number of undergraduate degrees awarded increase or decrease in non-adopting institutions over the eight years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? Total Undergraduate Degrees Trend Similar to the comparison in adopting states, the number of total institutional undergraduate degrees in non-adopting states was examined to determine whether the decline in the number of accounting graduates was the result of a decline in the overall number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in those states. Table 18 shows the total number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in California, Delaware, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Vermont over the eight academic year period 1991 -1992 through 1998-99. The data show that 31 o f the 57 reporting institutions, or 54%, experienced an increase in the total number of bachelor’s degrees they awarded over the eight-year period. Overall, the total number o f bachelor’s degrees awarded went from 41,236 in 1992 to 39,700 in Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1997 137 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 138 1999 - an overall decline of 4%. This compares to an overall increase in the number o f undergraduate degrees awarded of 15% for adopting institutions, over the same time period. The data in Table 18 indicate that the number o f accounting graduates declined at a significantly higher rate (34%) than the decline in total undergraduate degrees (4%) for institutions in non-adopting states. Therefore, it can be concluded that the decline in accounting graduates is not completely explained by a corresponding decline in total graduates, although it could be a contributing factor. In other words, the decline in accounting graduates is not merely a function of demographics, but probably related to some other factor as well. Figure 5 shows the graph of the annual trend in total undergraduate degrees awarded in non-adopting states, over the eight-year period. The graph shows a significant increase from 1992 to 1993, and then a gradual decrease from 1993 to 1999. Research Question 13 Did the percentage of bachelors of accounting graduates as a percentage of total undergraduate degrees awarded increase or decrease over the eight academic years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year for non-adopting institutions? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1097 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 18 Total Institutional Bachelor's Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master’s degrees in business A/Y 1997. INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES TOTAL - ALL FIELDS STATE 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 INSTITUTION NAME 560 749 629 455 254 366 468 455 AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY CA 366 402 N/A 402 443 272 266 CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY CA 312 426 N/A N/A 547 507 572 539 CHAPMAN UNIVERSITYCA 451 ACADEMIC CENTERS 456 427 454 472 289 317 322 296 DEVRY INSTITUTE-PONOMA CA 284 218 241 234 217 213 120 135 CA FRESNO PACIFIC UNIV. 317 339 302 277 356 414 . 376 GOLDEN GATE UNIVERSITYCA SAN FRANCISCO 199 200 232 157 187 174 154 LA SIERRA UNIVERSITY CA 983 897 868 918 933 1,003 977 994 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT CA 1297 1,001 1135 1,029 991 956 1,136 CA 1,152 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY 799 760 931 848 777 885 PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY 745 746 CA 360 392 368 375 396 379 334 381 POINT LOMA NAZARENE CA 747 792 819 833 803 809 887 845 ST. MARY S COLL. OF CA. CA % CHG, •92-'99 148% 17% -6% 63% 95% -26% 33% -13% 13% 2% 3% -2% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 18, continued. Total Inititutional Bachelor's Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor’s or master’s degrees in business A/Y 1997. SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN CA. COLL. U S INTERNATIONAL UNIV. UNIVERSITY OF LAVERNE UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO UNIV. OF SAN FRANCISCO WOODBURY UNIVERSITY DELAWARE STATE UNIV. GOLDEY-BEACOM COLL. UNIV. OF DELAWARE WESLEY COLLEGE WILMINGTON COLLEGE AUGSBURG COLLEGE BEMIDJI STATE UNIV. COLL. OF ST. BENEDICT COLL. OF ST. CATHERINEST. CATHERINE CAMPUS CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA DE DE DE DE DE MN MN MN MN 990 161 153 . 781 944 1,186 177 260 167 3,237 120 293 504 747 417 611 1,087 98 180 798 800 937 1,086 176 280 174 3,093 164 356 448 774 428 467 1,070 144 184 811 809 925 1,106 177 322 211 3,056 156 393 444 792 386 465 1,035 145 73 782 823 885 1,175 205 302 180 3,250 190 499 472 784 371 480 1,059 145 64 828 830 844 1,132 204 326 186 3,184 173 461 431 732 394 440 998 207 64 783 802 932 1,192 182 381 151 3,099 185 479 437 716 459 392 1005 247 58 691 712 977 1145 168 434 107 3088 167 587 441 554 482 420 1073 248 92 673 685 911 1228 168 406 155 3255 126 574 429 778 427 463 8% 54% -40% -16% -12% -3% 4% -5% 56% -7% 1% 5% 96% -15% 4% 2% -24% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 18, continued. Total Institutional Bachelor's Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business A/Y 1997. COLL. OF ST. SCHOLASTICA CONCORDIA-MOORHEAD CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLL. MANKATO STATE UNIV. METROPOLITAN STATE U. MOORHEAD STATE UNIV. NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE SAINT CLOUD STATE UNIV. SAINT JOHNS UNIVERSITY ST. MARY'S UNIV. OF MN. SOUTHWEST STATE UNIV. UNIV. OF MN.-DULUTH UNIV. OF MN.-TWIN CITIES UNIVERSITY OF ST THOMAS WINONA STATE UNIV. DANIEL WEBSTER COLLEGE FRANKLIN PIERCE COLL. MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN NH NH 326 650 294 632 2,193 779 1,476 206 2,491 415 280 364 1,019 5,441 1,063 1,087 114 593 292 595 313 625 2,224 886 1,554 202 2,633 407 259 367 1,132 5,474 1,141 1,155 137 566 361 563 345 573 2,133 1,007 1,560 283 2,602 394 245 349 1,240 5,209 1,035 1,142 87 563 337 587 333 612 2,037 920 1,502 283 2,373 352 218 312 1,308 5,162 1,008 1,243 96 537 418 576 274 617 1,904 921 1,126 291 2,415 345 243 305 1,201 4,890 960 1,149 131 492 320 592 299 744 1,765 825 946 317 2,227 356 303 265 1,124 4,889 963 1,187 125 496 309 548 319 629 2018 881 979 369 2349 363 276 259 1147 4976 925 1211 113 200 316 624 331 684 1616 N/A 958 375 2167 380 N/A 463 1293 5131 1019 1125 162 248 -3% -4% 13% 8% -26% 13% -35% 82% -13% -8% -1% 27% 27% -6% -4% 3% 42% -58% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 18, continued. Total Institutional Bachelor's Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business A/Y 1997. NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE PLYMOUTH STATE COLL. RIVIER COLLEGE SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE CASTLETON STATE COLL. CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE NORWICH UNIVERSITY SAINT MICHAELS COLLEGE TRINITY COLL. OF VERMONT UNIV. OF VERMONT & STATE AGRICULTURAL COLL. NH NH NH NH VT VT VT VT VT VT 887 633 151 457 265 , 455 414 225 1,688 770 734 190 417 294 42 405 437 192 1,718 813 692 197 398 320 45 450 349 222 1,737 705 665 198 424 254 51 452 440 185 1,549 820 643 201 399 255 89 490 354 174 1,649 787 633 183 405 272 81 406 407 160 1,543 1025 617 185 354 301 108 424 426 175 1523 638 648 203 484 282 118 474 478 146 1693 -28% 2% 34% 6% 6% 181% 4% 15% -35% 0% TOTAL-UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES TOTAL-ALL FIELDS •/. CHG, 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 '92-'99 41,236 42,783 42,356 42,218 41,344 40,802 40,557 39,700 -4% 144 Percentage of Accounting G raduates to Total Graduates in Non-Adopting States In order to gather further evidence as to whether the decline in accounting graduates was related to a corresponding decline in overall bachelor's degrees. Table 19 was prepared which shows the percentage of accounting degrees awarded, as a percentage of total undergraduate degrees, for institutions in non­ adopting states, over the eight-year period. That data in Table 19 indicate that the percentage of accounting degrees to total undergraduate degrees declined in 39 out of 57 reporting institutions, or 68%, in non-adopting states from 1992 to 1999. In 1992, accounting graduates made up 6% of total undergraduates in reporting institutions in non-adopting states. By 1999, the percentage dropped to 5%. Over the eight years, the percentage of accounting graduates ranged from 5% to 7%, with a fairly consistent trend over the period, albeit declining in the last few years. These data support earlier data which indicated that while the decrease in the number of accounting graduates may be related to a decline in the total number o f degrees awarded, the number of accounting graduates decreased at a faster rate. Research Question 14 Did the overall number o f undergraduate business degrees awarded increase or decrease in non-adopting institutions over the eight years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 19 Percentage of Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees as a Percentage of Total Institutional Degrees For Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION INSTITUTION NAME AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY CHAPMAN UNIV.-ACADEMIC CENTERS DEVRYINSTITUTE-POMONA FRESNO PACIFIC UNIVERSITY GOLDEN GATE UNIV.-SAN FRANCISCO LA SIERRA UNIVERSITY LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY POINT LOMA NAZARENE COLLEGE SAINT MARYS COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA STATE CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA ACCOUNTING 19911993- 1994- 1995- 199696 97 95 92 1992-93 94 3% 4% 3% 25% 3% 16% N/A 4% 8% 3% 2% 3% 3% 4% 1% 30% 1% 15% N/A 7% 9% 3% 2% 4% 1% N/A 2% 16% 3% N/A N/A 6% 8% 3% 2% 4% 1% 6% 1% 15% N/A 21% 7% 5% 7% 3% 1% 4% 1% 4% 4% 20% 0% 20% 3% 7% 6% 3% 2% 3% 2% 5% 2% 12% 3% 19% 4% 5% 5% 2% 1% 3% 199798 1% 4% N/A 17% 2% 23% 2% 4% 6% 3% 1% 4% 199899 0% N/A N/A 14% 1% 17% 3% 6% 2% 2% 1% 4% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 19, continued. Percentage of Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees as a Percentage of Total Institutional Degrees For Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COLLEGE U S INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LAVERNE UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO WOODBURY UNIVERSITY DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY GOLDEY-BEACOM COLLEGE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE WESLEY COLLEGE WILMINGTON COLLEGE AUGSBURG COLLEGE BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SAINT BENEDICT COLLEGE OF SAINT CATHERINE- CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA DE DE DE DE DE MN MN MN MN 6% 1% 1% N/A 1% 6% 2% 5% 11% 20% 3% 10% 10% 7% 4% 4% 5% 6% 6% N/A N/A 1% 7% 4% 7% 9% 20% 4% 7% 7% 7% 7% 2% 7% 6% 5% N/A 6% 1% 7% 3% 7% 5% 26% 4% 4% 4% 7% 4% 4% 6% 6% 3% N/A 4% 1% 7% 3% 6% 10% 24% 4% 5% 4% 8% 2% 3% 2% 5% 3% N/A 6% 1% 7% 3% 3% 6% 25% 3% 6% 5% 6% 6% 4% 4% 6% 1% N/A 5% 1% 9% 2% 4% 5% 19% 3% 9% 5% 7% 5% 3% 4% 5% 2% 0% 4% 1% 8% 3% 2% 4% 36% 2% 6% 7% 8% 3% 3% 4% 4% 4% 0% 3% 1% 7% 3% 5% 8% 24% 2% 6% 7% 4% 3% 4% 4% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 19, continued. Percentage of Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees as a Percentage of Total Institutional Degrees For Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. SAINT CATHERINE CAMPUS COLLEGE OF SAINT SCHOLASTICA CONCORDIA COLLEGE AT MOORHEAD CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE MANKATO STATE UNIVERSITY METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY MOORHEAD STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE SAINT CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY SAINT JOHNS UNIVERSITY SAINT MARY'S UNIV. OF MINNESOTA SOUTHWEST STATE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-DULUTH UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-TWIN CITIES UNIVERSITY OF ST THOMAS WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN 3% 5% 1% 6% 5% N/A 7% 5% 5% 10% 6% 9% 8% 3% 12% 5% 4% 4% 1% 4% 5% N/A 7% 1% 4% 8% 6% 8% 6% 3% 12% 5% 3% 4% 2% 2% 6% N/A 6% 2% 4% 7% 5% 7% 6% 3% 10% 5% 4% 3% 3% 2% 5% 11% 7% 3% 5% 7% 3% 7% 5% 3% 9% 5% 2% 3% 4% 4% 4% 10% 6% 1% 3% 5% 5% 9% 5% 2% 9% 6% 2% 3% 1% 2% 3% 9% 5% 4% 3% 8% 4% 6% 5% 3% 10% 5% 3% 4% 2% 2% 4% 7% 4% 3% 4% 7% 3% 11% 4% 2% 9% 4% 1% 2% 1% 1% 4% N/A 4% 2% 2% 8% N/A 0% 5% 2% 9% 4% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 19, continued. Percentage of Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees as a Percentage of Total Institutional Degrees For Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. DANIEL WEBSTER COLLEGE FRANKLIN PIERCE COLLEGE NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE PLYMOUTH STATE COLLEGE RIVIER COLLEGE SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE CASTLETON STATE COLLEGE CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE NORWICH UNIVERSITY SAINT MICHAELS COLLEGE TRINITY COLLEGE OF VERMONT UNIV. OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLL. Average NH NH NH NH NH NH VT VT VT VT VT VT N/A 15% 13% 3% 7% N/A 3% N/A 2% 4% 8% N/A 0% 14% N/A 4% 9% N/A 4% 50% 2% 4% 7% N/A N/A 14% 16% 5% 7% N/A 3% 56% 2% 4% 8% N/A 0% 17% 10% 4% 6% 2% 5% 63% 2% 3% 12% N/A 1% 14% 10% 2% 3% 3% 5% 39% 1% 5% 5% N/A 4% 13% 11% 3% 1% 2% 6% 33% 1% 2% 6% N/A 5% 4% 9% 3% 5% 2% 5% 19% 1% 4% 5% 0% 2% 4% 6% 2% 2% 2% 2% 19% 2% 4% 10% 0% 6% 7% 7% 7% 6% 6% 6% 5% 149 Business Degrees Trend in Non-Adopting States Similar to the analysis of institutions in adopting states, the number of business graduates for reporting institutions in non-adopting states was compiled in Table 20, in order to determine whether the decline of accounting graduates in non-adopting states correlates to a corresponding decline in business undergraduates. Once again, a substantial drop off in the number of business graduates could explain a decline in the number of accounting graduates in non­ adopting institutions. If the decline in business graduates and accounting graduates occurred at the same time in non-adopting institutions as it did in adopting institutions, it provides further evidence that an overall decline in students' interest in business as a major field of study was a major factor in the decline of the number of accounting graduates, more so than the 150-hour requirement. Table 20 shows that 40 of the 57, or 70% of the reporting institutions in non-adopting states experienced a decline in the number o f total business graduates over the eight-year period. Overall, the total number of business graduates went from 11,270 in 1992 to 9,341, in 1999, a decrease of 17%. Figure 6 compares this overall decline of 4% for institutions in adopting states, over the same period. In summary, institutions in both adopting and non-adopting states experienced significant declines in the number o f total business degrees awarded, over the eight year academic period 1991-92 to 1998-99. These data further support the assumption that there was a declining interest in the business field in Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1997 150 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 20 Total Bachelor's of Business Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION TOTAL - UNDERGRADATE BUSINESS DEGREES INSTITUTION NAME AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC CENTERS DEVRY INSTITUTE-POMONA FRESNO PACIFIC UNIV. GOLDEN GATE UNIVERSITYSAN FRANCISCO LA SIERRA UNIVERSITY LOYOLA MARYMOUNT NATIONAL UNIVERSITY PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY POINT LOMA NAZARENE ST. MARYS COLL. OF CA. STATE 91-'92 92-'93 93-'94 94-'95 95-'96 96-'97 % CHG, 97-'98 98-'99 •92-'99 CA CA CA 39 89 67 78 78 94 115 51 110 130 87 101 130 58 257 138 66 70 181 62 0 202 0 0 418% -30% 4% CA CA CA 73 14 313 90 37 356 97 71 88 98 316 128 96 305 239 128 266 53 122 294 283 101 248 288% 621% -21% 40 321 581 299 58 447 37 319 452 307 47 451 50 332 378 320 41 383 42 291 352 327 45 403 43 290 346 371 51 390 43 253 363 332 45 386 52 250 345 319 60 442 30% -17% -43% 2% -21% -6% CA CA CA CA CA CA , 302 607 312 76 472 , Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 20, continued. Total Bachelor's of Business Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. £ SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN CA. COLL. U S INTERNATIONAL UNIV. UNIVERSITY OF LAVERNE UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO UNIV. OF SAN FRANCISCO WOODBURY UNIVERSITY DELAWARE STATE UNIV. GOLDEY-BEACOM COLL. UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE WESLEY COLLEGE WILMINGTON COLLEGE AUGSBURG COLLEGE BEMIDJI STATE UNIV. COLL. OF ST. BENEDICT COLL. OF ST. CATHERINEST. CATHERINE CAMPUS CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA DE DE DE DE DE MN MN MN MN 263 35 80 491 373 200 80 109 143 472 47 162 179 136 55 88 273 21 112 420 569 367 199 92 96 152 520 52 175 136 154 52 69 272 28 125 489 554 346 216 97 81 193 425 51 168 138 150 51 56 270 27 52 416 479 287 208 115 76 162 486 45 210 140 115 45 53 298 27 45 445 544 273 239 98 86 163 489 45 217 121 123 67 44 281 65 45 349 582 297 213 75 83 135 452 63 223 115 112 62 51 289 89 36 356 490 361 216 74 89 102 471 51 286 140 89 74 42 0 94 53 329 411 320 242 72 101 139 519 42 234 110 82 55 48 -100% 169% -34% -22% -16% -14% 21% -10% -7% -3% 10% -11% 44% -39% -40% 0% -45% Table 20, continued. Total Bachelor's of Business Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. COLL. OF ST. SCHOLASTICA CONCORDIA-MOORHEAD CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLL. MANKATO STATE UNIV. METROPOLITAN STATE U. MOORHEAD STATE UNIV. NORTHWESTERN COLL. SAINT CLOUD STATE UNIV. SAINT JOHNS UNIVERSITY ST. MARY'S UNIV. OF MN. SOUTHWEST STATE UNIV. UNIV. OF MN.-DULUTH UNIV. OF MN.-TWIN CITIES UNIVERSITY OF ST THOMAS WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY DANIEL WEBSTER COLL. FRANKLIN PIERCE COLL. MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN NH NH 46 121 166 97 731 0 452 32 595 132 75 148 253 467 511 267 27 271 51 103 183 76 713 0 455 34 596 111 70 150 258 457 512 302 24 268 51 69 200 45 629 30 399 93 543 125 42 125 253 435 440 249 20 255 54 58 198 53 529 215 348 no 524 83 44 116 249 409 420 280 19 299 46 84 165 58 474 403 225 115 511 85 51 124 217 396 387 250 40 244 34 61 171 64 350 334 179 114 422 95 53 89 191 451 368 245 45 208 37 75 172 55 410 325 164 128 536 90 48 93 199 430 365 242 53 27 21 68 208 70 303 N/A 147 118 458 114 N/A 48 230 482 395 219 98 32 -54% -44% 25% -28% -59% 983% -67% 269% -23% -14% -36% -68% -9% 3% -23% -18% 263% -88% Table 20, continued. Total Bachelor's of Business Degrees in Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. NEW HAMPSHIRE COLL. PLYMOUTH STATE COLL. RIVIER COLLEGE SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE CASTLETON STATE COLL. CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE NORWICH UNIVERSITY SAINT MICHAELS COLLEGE TRINITY COLL. OF VERMONT U. OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLL. NH NH NH NH VT VT VT VT VT VT 852 210 43 651 228 45 . 54 , 54 130 79 180 64 42 48 123 61 194 696 211 43 , 61 45 39 78 60 145 625 174 33 50 43 49 32 73 56 148 724 126 36 57 49 52 30 70 34 173 682 107 18 53 58 48 31 86 32 146 864 112 31 39 56 40 28 108 31 118 514 127 19 74 51 57 35 113 31 156 -40% -40% -56% 48% -6% 36% -35% -13% -61% -13% TOTAL - UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS DEGREES % CHG, 91-'92 92-'93 93-'94 94-'95 95-'96 96-'97 97-'98 98-'99 '92-'99 11,270 11,757 10,878 10,801 10,984 10,336 10,265 9,341 -17% 155 general as a major field of study over the period, which negatively affected the number of accounting graduates in adopting and non-adopting states, thus reducing support for the 150-hour requirement as a significant factor in the decline of the number of accounting graduates. Research Question 15 Did the percentage o f bachelor’s of accounting graduates as a percentage of total business graduates increase or decrease over the eight academic years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year, for non-adopting institutions? Percentage of Accounting Degrees to Business Degrees in Non-Adopting States The purpose of this analysis is to determine the eight-year trend in accounting graduates compared to total business graduates. If the percentage of accounting graduates to total business graduates stayed constant, it would be reasonable to assume that the primary cause of the decline of accounting graduates in non­ adopting states was due to a decline in interest in business in general as a major field of study. If the percentage of accounting graduates shows a decline, there are other factors that have led to the decline of accounting graduates in non-adopting states. Table 21 shows the percentage of accounting graduates to total business graduates for institutions in non-adopting states, for the eight academic years Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 21 Percentage of Bachelor’s of Accounting Degrees as a Percentage of Total Business Degrees for Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION INSTITUTION NAME AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY CHAPMAN UNIV.-ACADEMIC CENTERS DEVRY INSTITUTE-POMONA FRESNO PACIFIC UNIVERSITY GOLDEN GATE U.-SAN FRANCISCO LA SIERRA UNIVERSITY LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY POINT LOMA NAZARENE COLLEGE SAINT MARYS COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA STATE CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA 199192 199293 18% 16% 19% 100% 21% 19% N/A 15% 16% 8% 11% 6% 14% 13% 6% 100% 5% 18% N/A 21% 17% 9% 12% 8% ACCOUNTING 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 199796 98 94 95 97 5% N/A 10% 54% 10% N/A N/A 19% 18% 7% 13% 7% 5% 28% 6% 56% N/A 23% 22% 14% 17% 8% 12% 9% 5% 31% 8% 71% 1% 23% 14% 23% 16% 7% 13% 6% 7% 6% 29% 26% 11% N/A 22% 145% 7% 3% 21% 25% 9% 16% 19% 15% 13% 18% 5% 7% 10% 7% 6% 7% 199899 0% N/A N/A 23% 2% 19% 13% 19% 6% 5% 3% 7% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 21, continued. Percentage of Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees as a Percentage of Total Business Degrees for Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. ^ SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COLLEGE U S INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LAVERNE UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO WOODBURY UNIVERSITY DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY GOLDEY-BEACOM COLLEGE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE WESLEY COLLEGE WILMINGTON COLLEGE AUGSBURG COLLEGE BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SAINT BENEDICT COLLEGE OF SAINT CATHERINE- CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA DE DE DE DE DE MN MN MN MN 22% 6% 1% N/A 1% 16% 15% 11% 26% 23% 24% 26% 18% 20% 22% 27% 32% 25% 29% N/A N/A 1% 17% 21% 13% 27% 22% 25% 21% 14% 22% 33% 17% 48% 25% 25% N/A 10% 1% 20% 16% 12% 20% 28% 28% 14% 10% 22% 23% 29% 54% 24% 15% N/A 8% 1% 20% 14% 10% 39% 27% 25% 22% 10% 26% 14% 22% 21% 19% 15% N/A 11% 1% 23% 13% 6% 22% 29% 22% 22% 11% 21% 33% 21% 41% 21% 5% N/A 11% 2% 28% 12% 9% 22% 21% 18% 25% 11% 28% 33% 23% 33% 19% 7% 0% 9% 2% 22% 16% 5% 21% 37% 15% 20% 15% 25% 16% 22% 43% N/A 10% 0% 6% 1% 20% 16% 13% 34% 27% 14% 17% 17% 15% 30% 31% 40% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 21, continued. Percentage of Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees as a Percentage of Total Business Degrees for Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. SAINT CATHERINE CAMPUS COLLEGE OF SAINT SCHOLASTICA CONCORDIA COLLEGE-MOORHEAD CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE MANKATO STATE UNIVERSITY METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY MOORHEAD STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE SAINT CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY SAINT JOHNS UNIVERSITY SAINT MARYS UNIV. OF MINNESOTA SOUTHWEST STATE UNIVERSITY UNIV. OF MINNESOTA-DULUTH UNIV. OF MINNESOTA-TWIN CITIES UNIVERSITY OF ST THOMAS WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN MN 22% 26% 2% 39% 16% N/A 22% 31% 21% 32% 21% 22% 32% 34% 25% 21% 22% 22% 2% 29% 17% N/A 25% 6% 20% 29% 21% 19% 26% 35% 26% 19% 22% 30% 3% 29% 19% N/A 23% 8% 21% 22% 29% 21% 29% 34% 24% 24% 22% 28% 5% 25% 18% 47% 30% 8% 21% 31% 16% 19% 26% 35% 22% 24% 20% 23% 6% 40% 15% 24% 31% 3% 15% 20% 24% 21% 28% 30% 22% 28% 15% 33% 2% 28% 17% 22% 27% 11% 15% 29% 23% 17% 30% 30% 26% 22% 27% 32% 3% 20% 21% 20% 26% 8% 16% 27% 17% 31% 21% 28% 22% 21% 10% 21% 1% 11% 20% N/A 28% 7% 11% 27% N/A 0% 27% 22% 24% 19% Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 21, continued. Percentage of Bachelor's of Accounting Degrees as a Percentage of Total Business Degrees for Non-Adopting States, 1991-92 to 1998-99 © AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, 1999. Data for US colleges and universities that awarded 25 or more bachelor's or master's degrees in business, A/Y 1997. DANIEL WEBSTER COLLEGE FRANKLIN PIERCE COLLEGE NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE PLYMOUTH STATE COLLEGE RIVIER COLLEGE SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE CASTLETON STATE COLLEGE CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE NORWICH UNIVERSITY SAINT MICHAELS COLLEGE TRINITY COLLEGE OF VERMONT UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Average NH NH NH NH NH NH VT VT VT VT VT VT N/A 33% 13% 8% 23% N/A 15% N/A 17% 14% 23% N/A 0% 29% N/A 12% 38% N/A 20% 50% 21% 14% 21% N/A N/A 32% 18% 17% 33% N/A 16% 56% 18% 18% 30% N/A 0% 30% 11% 17% 36% 16% 28% 65% 34% 15% 39% N/A 3% 29% 11% 9% 17% 21% 27% 67% 13% 23% 26% N/A 11% 31% 13% 16% 6% 13% 28% 56% 19% 9% 28% N/A 11% 30% 10% 15% 32% 15% 29% 53% 18% 18% 26% 0% 3% 31% 8% 12% 21% 15% 14% 40% 23% 19% 45% 0% 21% 22% 22% 22% 20% 19% 21% 16% 160 1991 -92 through 1998-99. The data shows that 34 out of the 57, or 60% of the reporting institutions experienced a decline in the percentage of accounting graduates in their business departments. Accounting graduates made up 21% of the total business undergraduates in 1992. By 1999, this percentage dropped to 16%. However, this percentage ranged from 19% to 22% from 1992 to 1998, before declining to 16% in 1999. Overall, the percentage of accounting graduates to total business undergraduates showed a slight decreasing trend over the eightyear period, with a decline from 21% to 16% from 1998 to 1999. These data indicate that the while the percentage o f accounting graduates to business graduates did decline over the eight years, it was not a significant decline. This supports the assumption that the decline in accounting graduates was related to a corresponding decline in business graduates. However, the number of accounting graduates seemed to decline at a faster rate. The eight-year trend for non-adopting institutions was consistent with the trend for adopting institutions, which dropped from 26% to 24% from 1992 to 1999, with a fairly consistent trend over the period. Surprisingly, the adopting institutions had a higher percentage o f accounting graduates in their business departments, than did non-adopting institutions. Research Question 16 Was there any correlation in the trend o f the number of accounting graduates for institutions in adopting states compared to institutions in non- Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 161 adopting states, over the eight academic years beginning the 1991-92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? Correlation of Accounting G raduates in Adopting and Non-Adopting States This research has indicated that there was a significant decline in the number of accounting graduates from institutions in both adopting and non-adopting institutions over the eight academic year period 1991-92 through 1998-99. If there is also evidence of a correlation in the yearly decline in the number of accounting graduates in adopting and non-adopting states, it further supports the supposition that the decline in accounting graduates was similar throughout higher-education and not the primary result of the 150-hour requirement. Table 22 shows the number of bachelor’s o f accounting degrees awarded in both adopting and non-adopting states for the eight-year period. In order to determine whether there is any correlation in the two data sets, the Pearson’s Regression analysis was used to compare the data from the two groups. The Pearson’s Regression analysis is used to measure the linear association between two variables or groups. The result is a range o f values from 1.0 to -1.0 indicating the degree of correlation between the two samples. A result of 1.0 indicates that the two variables have a perfectly linear relationship and both move in the same direction at the same rate. A result o f -1.0 indicates that the two variables move at the same rate, but in opposite directions. A result near 0.0 indicates that the two variables have no linear relationship and move independently o f one another. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 162 The data on Table 22 indicate that the Pearson’s Regression statistic of the correlation o f the number o f accounting graduates in adopting and non-adopting states was .5745 for the eight-year period 1992 through 1999, indicating an insignificant linear relationship. However, when the Pearson Regression statistic is calculated for the seven years from 1992 to 1998, the result is a correlation of .7271, indicating a more significant linear relationship. It appears that the graduation data for 1999 was dissimilar from the prior year's trend. From the data in Table 22, it can be concluded that the number of accounting graduates for institutions in adopting states followed a similar trend as institutions in non-adopting states. This provides additional support for the assumption that the decline in the number of accounting graduates was a universal trend, not significantly affected by the 150-hour requirement. Figure 7 shows the annual trends of accounting graduates in adopting and non-adopting states, over the eight academic year-ends from 1992 to 1999. The Figure shows that institutions in both adopting and non-adopting institutions experienced declines over the period. The major variation in the trend o f the two groups occurred between the 1994 and 1995 academic year-ends when the non­ adopting institutions experienced very little change in the number of accounting graduates, while the adopting institutions experienced a significant decline. This inconsistency could be explained by the large number of graduates in adopting states attempting to qualify for the CPA exam in 1994, before the 150-hour requirement was enacted. There was also a deviation between 1998 and 1999 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. F igure 7: C o m p ariso n o f A ccounting D sg ro a s A w arded in A dopting & Non-A dopting In stitu tio n s 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 ■Adopting Institutions 2,000 ■Non-Adopting Institutions 1,500 1,000 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1996 1999 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Table 22 Comparison of Trend in Accounting Graduates in Adopting States and Non-Adopting States for the Eight Academic Year Period 1991-92 through 1998-99 Further reproduction prohibited without permission Adopting States Non Adopting States 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 3,354 2,090 3,429 2,072 3,425 2,016 2,793 2,050 2,886 1,938 2,707 1,757 2,765 1,722 2,868 1,377 t Pearson R Statistic 1992 Through 1999 Pearson R Statistic 1992 Through 1998 0.5745 0.7271 165 when the non-adopting institutions experienced a decline, while the adopting institutions reported an increase. Research Question 17 Was there any correlation in the trend in the number of business undergraduates for institutions in adopting states compared to institutions in non­ adopting states, over the eight academic years beginning the 1991 -92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? Correlation of Business G raduates in Adopting and Non-Adopting States Similar to research question sixteen, the Pearson Regression analysis was used to determine whether there is any correlation in the number of undergraduate business degrees awarded from institutions in adopting and non-adopting states over the eight academic year ends from 1992 to 1999. The research has shown that there was a significant decline in the number of undergraduate business degrees awarded in both adopting and non-adopting institutions, which could explain to some extent the decline in accounting graduates. If the data indicate that the decline in business graduates followed the same annual trend in adopting and non-adopting institutions, it supports the claim that there was a universal decline in interest in business in general, as a major field of study. Table 23 shows the total number o f business graduates from institutions in both adopting and non-adopting states for the eight academic year-ends, 1992 to 1999. Using Pearson's Regression analysis on the two groups returned a Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 23 Comparison of Trend in Business Undergraduates in Adopting and Non-Adopting States for the Eight Academic Year Period 1991-92 through 1998-99 Adopting States Non Adopting States 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 13,209 11,270 13,295 11,757 12,733 10,878 11,485 10,801 11,322 10,984 11,303 10,336 11,757 10,265 12,680 9,341 8 Pearson R Statistic 1992 Through 1999 Pearson R Statistic 1992 Through 1998 0.3172 0.7518 167 correlation coefficient of .3172, indicating very little linear relationship between the two groups over the eight-year period. However, when the Pearson Regression statistic is calculated for the seven years from 1992 to 1998, the result is a correlation of .7518, indicating a more significant linear relationship. It appears, once again, that graduation data for 1999 was dissimilar from the prior year’s trend. Figure 8 shows the comparison of the eight-year trend in total undergraduate business degrees awarded from institutions in adopting and non­ adopting states. Figure 8 shows a fairly consistent trend between the two groups from 1992 to 1998, before moving in opposite directions in 1999. The Figure shows that the total number of undergraduate business majors had declined for both adopting and non-adopting institutions in the later years o f data. Research Question 18 Did the overall number of undergraduate accounting degrees awarded increase or decrease for all reporting universities over the eight years beginning the 1991 -92 academic year through the 1998-99 academic year? National Accounting G raduates Trend over the Eight-Year Period One of the final investigations was to determine the overall trend in the number o f accounting graduates for all reporting universities, over the eight-year period. The AACSB has collected data on more than 1,500 colleges and universities that have awarded at least 25 degrees in business. In the earlier Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 169 analyses, accounting graduation trends from institutions that adopted the 150-hour requirement in roughly the middle of the eight years was analyzed as well as trends from institutions that have not enacted any legislation concerning the requirement. The data indicated that there was a downward trend in the number of accounting graduates for institutions in both categories. If the data indicate a downward trend in accounting graduates for all colleges and universities, it will further support the assumption that there is a universal decline in business programs in general and accounting programs specifically, not related to the 150hour requirement. Table 24 shows the total number of accounting degrees awarded for all reporting institutions over the eight academic year periods 1991 -92 through 199899. The total number of bachelor’s of accounting degrees awarded went from 48.149 in 1992 to 37,087 in 1999 - a 23% decline. The data show that after a slight increase from 1992 to 1993, the number o f accounting degrees awarded decreased steadily from 1993 to 1999, at an annual rate of approximately 5%. This further points to a declining interest in accounting as a major field of study for the majority o f institutions over the eight-year period. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table 24 Total Number of Accounting Degrees Conferred for All Reporting Colleges and Universities From Academic Years Ending 1992 to 1999 Total Accounting Degrees Conferred Annual % Increase/(Decrease) 1992 48,149 - 1993 49,504 2.7% Percentange Change from Academic Year Ending 1992 to 1999 Academic Year Ending 1994 1995 1996 1997 48,375 44,580 42,657 41,187 -2.3% -8.5% -4.5% -23%______ -3.6% 1998 39,198 -5.1% 1999 37,087 -5.7% CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Summary’ The purpose of this research study is to determine the effect o f the 150hour requirement on the number o f bachelor’s of accounting graduates. The new requirement mandates a CPA candidate complete at least 150-hours of coursework before being eligible to take the CPA exam. This amounts to an additional 20 to 30 hours of coursework. Many critics contend that this new requirement has led to a decline in the number of graduates entering the profession. Graduation data were analyzed from institutions in states where there was at least three years of data available before and after the adoption o f the 150-hour requirement. This was necessary to minimize the effect of students hastening their graduation from accounting programs before the requirement became law. Four states, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah, adopted the 150-hour requirement at such a time where three years of data were available before and after the 150-hour requirement became enacted in their states. Sixty institutions in these states reported graduation data to the AACSB from academic year ending 1992 to 1999, which was used for the basis of this analysis. The graduation data from these adopting institutions were compared to data from institutions in states that had not enacted any legislation concerning the 150-hour requirement. States that have not adopted the 150-hour requirement 171 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 172 include California, Delaware, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In these states. 57 institutions reported data to the AACSB. The study indicated that there was a significant decline in the number of accounting graduates around the time o f enactment in all of the adopting states except Utah. Institutions in Utah actually experienced a significant increase in the number of accounting graduates over the eight-year period. There was a noticeable decline in graduates the year immediately before and after the adoption of the requirement, which can be explained by a rush to graduate under the old rules. However, the number of accounting graduates actually increased in adopting states during the last three years o f this analysis. However, there was also a declining trend in institutions in non-adopting states. This supports the assumption that there was an overall decline in interest in accounting as a major field of study, not directly related to the 150-hour requirement. This is further supported by the universal decline in accounting majors in reporting institutions from all 50 states, during the eight-year period. In fact, nation-wide, the number of accounting graduates declined at a faster rate than those in adopting states (see Table 4 and Table 23). One o f the most telling factors was the corresponding decline in overall business degrees awarded during the eight-year period. These data support the assumption that the decline in accounting graduates is related to an overall decline in interest in the business field in general. Furthermore, the decline in accounting graduates cannot be attributed to an overall decline in college graduates on the whole, since the number of total college graduates actually increased in adopting Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 173 states, over the eight-year period. Interestingly, institutions in Utah experienced an overall increase in the number of business graduates over the eight-year period, corresponding with their increase in accounting graduates. This provides more evidence that there is a correlation between the decline in business graduates in general and accounting graduates specifically. To analyze the relationship of the decline in the number of accounting graduates further, the annual percentage of bachelor’s of accounting degrees as a percentage of total institutional degrees and as a percentage of total undergraduate business degrees awarded were analyzed for institutions in adopting and non­ adopting states. This analysis was performed in order to provide additional data on whether or not the percentage or ratio of accounting graduates remained consistent over the eight-year period. If the percentage remained the same, then the decline is probably related to either an overall decline in college graduates or an overall decline in business majors, or both. The results of this analysis indicated that the percentage o f accounting degrees declined as a percentage of total degrees, over the eight-year period. This indicates that there was a significant decline in accounting graduates as many have claimed, and that the decline was not related to a corresponding decline in total institutional graduates. This analysis revealed that although the percentage of accounting graduates in business departments declined, it was not a significant decline and the percentage of accounting graduates dropped most significantly in 1999, several years after the 150-hour requirement became enacted. This corroborates Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 174 the data that the decline in accounting graduates was more closely related to an overall decline in business graduates. The null hypothesis for this study is that the 150-hour requirement had no effect on the number of accounting graduates. One o f the primary tests for the null hypothesis is to determine whether there was a significant difference in the three-year average number of accounting graduates before the adoption of the 150-hour requirement compared to the three-year average after the 150-hour requirement. A two-tailed t-test was conducted in order to determine whether or not there was a significant difference between the two groups. Since the two groups are related, a “paired” t-test was used. The results o f the two-tailed t-test showed that there was indeed a significant statistical difference between the threeyear average numbers of accounting graduates before the adoption of the 150-hour requirement compared to after the adoption o f the requirement. The evidence indicated that there was a significant decline in the number of accounting graduates, after the 150-hour requirement was adopted. The results of this test do not, however, provide evidence of a causal relationship. In fact when compared with other evidence, it appears that the difference is not due to the adoption of the 150-hour requirement rather, one can reasonably conclude that a universal decline in the interest in business programs in general and accounting programs specifically. This further support the assumption that there was a universal decline in accounting graduates regardless of the adoption o f the 150-hour requirement. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 175 Another statistical analysis performed revealed that there was a significant difference in the three-year average percentage of accounting graduates to total graduates before and after the 150-hour requirement. The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test showed that the three-year average percentage o f accounting majors declined from 6.1 % before the adoption o f the 150-hour requirement to 5.1 % after the requirement. The test statistic indicated that the two groups (before and after) had different distributions. There is no doubt based on this evidence that there was a declining interest in accounting over the period analyzed. Probably more significant though is the results of the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test on the three-year average percentage of accounting graduates to total business graduates, before and after the adoption o f the 150-hour requirement. This analysis showed that there was not a significant difference in the three-year average percentage of accounting students to total business students. In fact, the data indicated that both the number of accounting graduates and business graduates declined over the eight-year period analyzed, and they declined at a similar rate. This appears to indicate that the decline in accounting graduates was related more closely to a general declining interest in business as a major field of study and contradicts the assumption that the decline in accounting graduates was primarily related to the adoption of the 150-hour requirement. In order to support these findings further, accounting graduation trends at institutions in states that did not adopt legislation concerning the 150-hour requirement were analyzed and compared to trends in adopting institutions. The data indicated that approximately 75% of non-adopting institutions also Reproduced with permission o f the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 176 experienced declines in the number of accounting graduates, over the eight-year period. More importantly, the number of accounting graduates at institutions in non-adopting states actually decreased at a higher rate than adopting institutions, pointing again to a universal declining interest in accounting. The number of total graduates in non-adopting states experienced a slight decline over the eight-year period. The decline in total graduates is not significant enough to explain the large decline in accounting graduates. Therefore, it can be concluded that the decline in accounting graduates in non-adopting states was not related to a corresponding decline in total graduates, again pointing to a universal decline in interest in accounting. The data also show that the percentage of accounting graduates to total graduates also decreased over the eight-year period. Accounting graduates made up approximately 6% of total graduates in the 1992 academic year and dropped to 5% by 1999. This concurred with the 1% decline in adopting institutions. Not surprisingly, the data show that the number of business graduates in non-adopting institutions also declined over the eight-year period. Over 70% of the reporting institutions in non-adopting states experienced a decline in the number o f accounting graduates horn 1992 to 1999. Thus, institutions in adopting and non-adopting states experienced declines in both the number of total business graduates and total accounting graduates. Another analysis revealed that the percentage of accounting graduates to total business graduates declined slightly for institutions in non-adopting states with a significant downturn in 1999. This indicates that although the number of Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 177 business graduates and accounting graduates experienced declines, accounting graduates declined at a slightly higher rate. These data support the previous assumption that the decline in accounting graduates is related to an overall decline in business graduates, although interest in accounting declined at a faster rate. When the annual number of accounting graduates and business graduates at both adopting and non-adopting institutions were analyzed to determine whether there was any correlation, it revealed that the regression statistic showed a significant linear relationship supporting the idea o f a universal decline in business and accounting graduates. Perhaps the most persuasive evidence in this analysis is the accounting graduation data from all reporting institutions over the eight academic year-ends 1992 to 1999. The AACSB collected data from more than 1,500 colleges and universities over the eight-year period. The AACSB reported a significant decline in the number of accounting graduates from all reporting institutions from 1992 to 1999. In summary, the data in this analysis provide clear and considerable evidence that the number of accounting graduates was declining over the eightyear academic year-ends from 1992 to 1999 at institutions of higher education nationwide. Further, it supports the assumption that the decline was not significantly related to the adoption of the 150-hour requirement. It does appear, however, that a significant number of accounting graduates accelerated there academic work in order to graduate before the enactment of the requirement and be “grandfathered in" under the old rules. This explains the significant drop off in Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 178 accounting graduates from 1994 to 1996 - the time period that the institutions adopted the new requirement. In conclusion, the evidence supports the acceptance o f the null hypothesis that the adoption of the 150-hour requirement had no effect on the number of accounting degrees awarded at adopting institutions. The evidence indicates that the decline in accounting graduates was universal and more closely related to a declining interest in business in general as a major field of study. Recommendations The data provided evidence that the decline in accounting graduates is not primarily related to the 150-hour requirement. Many critics suggest that the profession must do more to promote the image o f the profession. The accounting profession is facing an interesting next few years. Pressure from regulatory agencies will put an increasing spotlight on college accounting programs. Recent scandals such as Enron and World Com have been embarrassing for a once highly respected profession. Perhaps this publicity will pressure educators to offer a more diverse curriculum, more appealing to the high school student entering college in order to attract the highest caliber of student. Such courses as fraud auditing, forensic accounting, and business valuation could generate a renewed interest in a wounded field (“Eccountancy,” 2002). These courses could be offered as part of the additional coursework associated with the 150-hour Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 179 requirement. Institutions could even offer specialty master’s degrees, while at the same time meeting the requirements of the additional coursework. An earlier study suggested that many students that choose not to enter the field of accounting see the accounting profession as unexciting and boring (Fedoryshyn & Hintz, 2000). The profession must address this issue and target potential accounting majors at an early age. It must effectively market a career in accounting as early as 7th grade, if possible. This will involve speaking directly to students at assemblies or in classrooms. The AICPA has already made inroads in this area. The AICPA has established a program called the AICPA Champion Program made up of accounting professors nationwide that provide students with information on accounting careers (AICPA “On-Campus,” 2000). The Champions Program was designed to establish a contact at each institution, typically a professor of accounting, to promote student participation in AICPA activities and to distribute educational and professional materials to students and other faculty. The goal is to get more students excited about the profession by getting involved in professional activities (AICPA “Looking,” 2001). In return for the educator’s participation in this program, he or she is given an annual complimentary membership in the AICPA, special recognition at an annual breakfast meeting, $300 off of an annual AICPA conference, and special discounts on other products and services. On the bright side, fewer students entering the profession means that the demand for accounting graduates will increase in the next few years. There is already evidence that salaries have increased significantly for those entering the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 180 accounting field with a CPA and meeting the 150-hour requirement. According to Salary.Com, the median salary for an entry-level accountant entering the field today is $35,506. Those that graduate with at least 150 credit hours earn an average of $44,000 (Salary.com, 2002). It is likely that the escalating salaries will bring renewed interest to the profession. There are some in the profession that believe that the recent attention on the accounting profession, although negative, will serve to attract more students into the profession (Rodriguez, 2002). They contend that negative publicity is better than no publicity. New accounting standards that will arise in the wake of recent accounting standards will no doubt set a lower tolerance for errors on audited financial statements. This will require additional hours and greater fees for auditor services in order to achieve the expected level of assurance. The salaries for auditors are bound to continue to rise. Although the adoption o f the 150-hour requirement is not the primary cause of the decline in accounting graduates, it has created enough controversy in the accounting field that problems previously veiled have been brought out into the open (“Adverse,” 2002). The fact remains that there has been a declining interest in accounting as a major field of study over the past 10 years, and the profession must continue to address this. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BIBLIOGRAPHY Adverse impact of 150-hour rule. (2002, February). The Practical Accountant, 35, 8. Albin, M.J., Crockett, James R. (1991, July-August). Integrating necessary skills and concepts into the accounting curriculum. Journal o f Education fo r Business, 66(6), 325-327. Albrecht, Steve w. & Robert J. Sack. (2000, September). Accounting education: Charting the course through a perilous future [Electronic version]. American Accounting Association Accounting Education Series, v.16. Retrieved September 26, 2002 from http://aaahq.org/pubs/4ESvl6/toc.htm American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) (1999). Bachelor's degrees, total and by business specialty 1991-92 to 1996-97 [Data file]. 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Education Research Committee 1997 final report: Critical thinking competencies essential to success in public accounting. Retrieved September 1, 2001 from http://www.aicpa.org/edu/fsa/reports. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (1999). AICPA 150-Hour education requirement. Frequently asked questions. Retrieved September 10, 2001 from http://www.aicpa.org/edu/faqs.htm. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Champions Program ( 2001). Looking fo r a few good champions. Retrieved November 30, 2002 from http://www.aicpa.0 rg/download/career/edu/OCC_Roles_Responsibilities.p df. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (1999). AICPA curriculum development handbook. Retrieved September 15, 2001 from http://www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/edu/150hcdh.htm. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (1999). AICPA 150-Hour education requirement—States that have passed the 150-hour education requirement. Retrieved October 15,2001 from http://www.aicpa.org/states/uaa/150chart.htm Baril, Charles P., & Mark M. Chain, Billie M. Cunningham, David R. Fordham, Robert L. Gardner, Kent St. Pierre, Susan K. Wolcott. (1997, December 1). Critical thinking competencies essential to success in public accounting. Education Research Committee 1997 Final Report, p i -23. Blackburn, Vanessa. (2002, May). After Enron, ethics now at forefront: Does your business need a stated, contractual code o f conduct? Don’t try it if your not going to enforce i t Bellingham Business Journal. (2), B6. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2002) Occupational Outlook Handbook 2002-03 Edition. Retrieved March 11,2001, from: U.S. Department o f Labor Access: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos001 .htm. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 183 Byrd, Sally. (1996, December). Get experience before you get a job [Electronic version]. Amarillo Business Journal, 1(2). Retrieved May 12,2001 from http://businessjoumal.net/students 1296.html Carroll, Lloyd. (1997, September). The 150-hour rule: Bad idea then, worse idea now. Accounting Today. 11, 6-7. Claypool, Gregory A. & James A. Tackett. (2002, April-June). A concise look at the accounting profession’s response to fraud. Ohio CPA Journal. 22-24. College of Business Administration, Texas A & M University-Kingsville. (2000). Degree requirements bachelor of business administration with a major in accounting. Retrieved June 1, 2002, from: http://www.cba.tamuk.edu/ACCT.Degree.html. Covaleski, John M. (2000, April 17-30). 150-hour rule goes national. Accounting Today. 14, 1 & 53. Cumming, John, Ph.D. & Lany J. Rankin, Ph.D. (1999, April). 150 hours: A look back [Electronic version]. Journal o f Accountancy, 187(4). Retrieved September 1, 2001 from http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/aprl999/cumming.htm. Dennis, T. A. (2000, October). Taking account: Key dates for the profession [Electronic version]. Journal o f Accountancy, 190(4). Retrieved November 18, 2001 from http ://www .aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/oct2000/Dennis.htm. Donelan, Joseph G. & Kirk L. Philipich. (2001, August). Getting to 150 hours: A survey of CPA candidates. The CPA Journal. 68-70. Donelan, Joseph G. & Ronald O. Reed. (2000, November). The 150-hour requirement and the supply of graduate accounting programs. Journal o f Education fo r Business. 76, 93. Eccountancy.com (2002, February). A broader education fo r accountants. Retrieved August 19, 2002, from: http:// www.eccountancv. com/CDA/Stories/ IndividualEmplov/1.1329.70177.00.html. Elam, Rick. (1995, March). Model language for 150-hour requirement encourages curriculum innovation [Electronic version]. FYI Accounting Educators Newsletter. 6(4). Retrieved November 21, 2001 from http://www.aicpa.org/edu/fyi/vi-4.htni. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 184 Fedoryshyn, Michael W. & Arthur F. Hintz. (2000, September). Where are all the accounting students? New Accountant. 27-32. Federation of Schools of Accountancy, The (FS A) position paper: 150-semester hour education requirement. (1996, June). AICPA 150-Semester Hour Education Requirement. Retrieved September 10, 2001, from http://www.thefsa.org/publications/150-seme.htm. Goldstein Ellen J. (2000, February/March). Accounting and finance starting salaries to increase an average o f 4.65% in 2000 according to annual survey. The CPA Letter. [Electronic version]. Retrieved November 10, 2001, from http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/cpaltr/feb2000/supps/med3.htm. Groebner, David F. & Patrick W. Shannon, Phillip C. Fry, & Kent D. Smith. (2001). Business Statistics - A Decision Making Approach. (5th ed.). (pp.786-787). New Jersey: Pearson, Prentice Hall. Helton, Todd. (2002, March/April). Industry members move up with their CPA credential. The Georgia Society o f CPAs. Retrieved June 9, 2002, from: www.gscpa.org/News/press room.asp?pagemode=displav&newsid=284. How the exam is graded. (2002). Becker Conviser CPA Review. Retrieved June 1, 2002, from http://www.beckercpa.com/cpaexam/howthe.htm. Kelcher, Niquette M. (2000, November 1). Report warns of accounting education’s “perilous future”. SmartPros. Retrieved April 17, 2003 from http://accounting.pro2net.com/x26053.xml Kieso, Donald E., Jerry J. Weygandt and Terry D. Warfield. (2001). Intermediate Accounting, (10th ed.). (pp. 3 & 7). New Jersey: Wiley & Sons, Inc. Klein, Melissa (2000, June 26-July 9). CPA writes the book on getting started in PFP. Accounting Today, 14(11), 4 & 53. Levy, Richard M. (2001, April 15). Proposed changes to streamline the FASB process. FIAC Comment Letter, p i. Maney, Kevin & Andrew Backover. (2002, July 22). WorldCom drops bomb on telecom [Electronic version]. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.eom/money/industries/telecom/2002-07-22worldcom-cover_x.htm. Missouri State Board of Accountancy (MSCPA): Division of Professional Registration-Application Requirements (1999). Changes in the educational requirements to sit fo r the CPA examination. Retrieved June 1, 2002 from http://www.ecodev.state.mo.us/or/account/require.htm Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 185 Next Generation Accountant—Robert Half International, Inc. (2001). New competencies: Converging disciplines, expanding roles. Retrieved June 9. 2002 from http:/ 'wwu.nextgenaccountant.com' research hili/research guide.html. Peck, Chuck. (1999, June). The American Institute o f Certified Public Accountants: Using the web to strengthen membership. RSG Systems Press Releases. Retrieved June 9, 2002, from http:// www.rsgsvstems.com/aicp0699.asp. Read. William J., K. Raghunandan and Clifford Brown. (2001, March). 150-hour preparation improves CPA exam performance. The CPA Journal. 1, 3034. Reinstein, Alan, Mohamed E. Bayou and Gerald H. Lander. (2000, JulySeptember). Professional expectations concerning 150-hour programs. Ohio CPA Journal. 59, 61. Renner, Cellia & Margaret Tanner. (2001, January). Educating Future Accountants: Alternatives for Meeting the 150-Hour Requirement. Journal o f Education fo r Business. 7, 132. Rodriguez, Erik. (2002, August 17). Accounting majors see saucy side o f a profession rocked by scandal. Austin American Statesman. A Section. 1-3. Roman, Mark and Kimberly Temme (2001, September 28). The Truth About Accounting. MSCPA Online Newsletter. Retrieved from www.mocpa.org/online_news0928.html Romine, Jeff (2002, January). Crisis in accounting: Where have all the accounting majors gone? The Asset, 20-21. Salary.com (2002, June 10). Personal salary report—accountant I & IV, attorney III & physician. Retrieved June 9, 2002 from http://www.salarv.com. Sanders, Beatrice, Steve Goldfarb, and Leticia B. Romeo. (2001) The supply o f accounting graduates and the demand for public accounting recruits— 2001 for academic year 1999-2000. American Institute o f Certified Public Accountants, Inc. Scott, Robert W. (2000, June). The 150-hour bomb. Accounting Technology. 16, 6. SEC and FASB considering four major rule changes. (2002, May). Financial Executive News. p3-4. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 186 Shafer, William & J. Gregory Kunkel. (2001, N'ov.-Dec.). Are 150-hour accounting programs meeting their intended objectives? Journal o f Education fo r Business. v77. p78-83. Shannon, Tan. (2002, May 27). Study of Enron scandal heats up classes at Miami universities. Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, p i -2. Sparkmon, Richard. (2000, September 25). Roll back the 150-hour rule. Accounting Today. vl4. p 6. Stice, Earl K.., James D. Stice and Michael A. Diamond. (2002). Financial Accounting Reporting and Analysis, (6th ed.). pi 2. Ohio: Thomson Southwestern. Whitman, Janet. (2002, April 10). For competence, accounting gets “D” in new poll. Wall Street Journal. pA7. Zeune, Gary D. (2002, April-June). Preventing your firm’s Enron. Ohio CPA Journal, p i 8-21. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. VITA AUCTORIS Troy V. Luh was bom February 29, 1964, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Maureen J. and Elbert G. Luh, Jr. He was raised in Victoria, Missouri, and graduated from Hillsboro High School in June o f 1982. His B.B.A. degree was awarded in Accounting by Evangel University in 1991. His Master of Accountancy degree was awarded in May of 1993 by Southwest Missouri State University. His Master of Valuation Science was awarded in May of 2001 by Lindenwood University. Mr. Luh is a Certified Public Account (CPA), Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV), and a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA). He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants (MSCPA), and is licensed to practice public accounting in with the Missouri State Board o f Accountancy. Mr. Luh is employed full-time at Webster University as an Assistant Professor of Accounting. He also consults on a part-time basis for the accounting firm o f Brown, Smith, Wallace, L.L.C., where his duties include business valuation, litigation support, and expert testimony. He has been a contributing author of various business publications and seminar lecturer on topics pertaining to business valuation. In December 2001 Mr. Luh was named among the “Forty Professionals Under Forty” in the Business Saint Charles Magazine. 187 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 188 Mr. Luh married Katherine E. (Parsons) Luh in May of 1992. Mr. and Mrs. Luh have three sons, Ryan Scott, bom November 21, 1995, Matthew Christopher, bom November 18, 1997, and Keith Samuel, bom May 26, 1999. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. [...]... the issue of fewer accounting majors in order to bring their programs back into balance Statement Of Hypothesis The hypothesis for this study is that the 150- hour requirement has had no affect on the number of accounting graduates before the adoption of the 150 credit -hour requirement compared to after the adoption of the 150 credit -hour requirement in those states in which three years of graduation... Even today, there is noticeable competition for accounting graduates among public accounting firms (Goldstein, 2000) The accounting profession has longed for the prestige given to the professions of medicine and law, each o f which requires extensive higher educational achievement The establishment of the 150- hour requirement is an attempt by the accounting profession to put accounting on the same level... Bachelor s o f Accounting Degrees to Total Undergraduate Business Degrees Before and After Adoption of 150- Hour Requirement 122 Table 16: Comparison of the Three-Year Average Percentage of Accounting Graduates to Total Business Undergraduates Before the Adoption of the 150- Hour Requirement to the Three-Year Average After the Adoption of the 150- Hour Requirement Based on Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test ... 12: Comparison of Three-Year Average Number of Accounting Graduates Before Adoption o f the 150- Hour Requirement to Three-Year After the 150- Hour Requirement 106 Table 13: Three-Year Average Percentage o f Bachelor s o f Accounting Degrees to Total Undergraduate Degrees Conferred Before and After Adoption of the 150- Hour Rule for Adopting Institutions 112 ix Reproduced with permission of the copyright... period o f years The ultimate goal of the AICPA’s push of the additional education requirement is to develop and hone the skills o f the accounting professional (AICPA, 2002) However, some argue that if the best candidates are choosing to go into other professions because of the rule, the additional hours will not produce Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited... Further reproduction prohibited without permission Table 14: Comparison of the Three-Year Average Percentage of Accounting Graduates to Total Undergraduates Before the Adoption o f the 150- Hour Requirement to the Three-Year Average Percentage After the Adoption of the 150- Hour Requirement Based on Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test 117 Table 15: Three-Year Average Percentage o f Bachelor s o f Accounting. .. profession has taken the brunt o f criticism for the events at Enron in what amounts to the second largest bankruptcy in the history of the United States (Zeune, 2002) Arthur Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission 12 Andersen, one of the largest accounting firms in the world, was convicted in June 2002 o f obstruction of justice when they... reproduction prohibited without permission 16 compared the three-year average after the adoption of the requirement for institutions in adopting states? 9 Was there a significant difference in the three-year average percentage of accounting graduates compared to total undergraduates before the adoption of the 150- hour requirement compared the three-year average after the adoption o f the requirement. .. in the popularity of programs in computer science and technology However, many in the profession claim there is a direct correlation between the decline in accounting graduates and enforcement o f the new policy (Sparkmon, 2000) The lack o f supply of accounting graduates will continue to drive up salary costs Following is a discussion of the history and background of the 150- hour requirement The 150- Hour. .. Total Bachelor' s Degrees in Adopting States 76 Figure 3: Total Bachelor s of Business Degrees in Adopting States .84 Figure 4: Total Number of Accounting Degrees in Non-Adopting States 137 Figure 5: Total Number of Bachelor s Degrees in Non-Adopting States 139 Figure 6: Total Number of Business Degrees in Non-Adopting States 150 Figure 7: Comparison o f Accounting Degrees Awarded