BYU Accounting Program Rises to Second Place National Ranking

PROVO, Utah — Sep 16, 1998 — The 17th Annual Survey of Accounting Professors has ranked Brigham Young University’s graduate accounting program second in the nation, up one spot from last year’s third place ranking. In the same poll, the University’s undergraduate accounting program maintained its third place ranking for the fourth consecutive year.

The poll, published in the August 15 issue of Public Accounting Report, is based on the annual evaluation of each school by members of the Administrators of Accounting Programs, a national organization of accounting department heads. These administrators rank schools based on program curriculum, quality of faculty and students, and graduate placement rates.

W. Steve Albrecht, Associate Dean of the Marriott School of Management and former director of the School of Accounting and Information Systems (SOAIS), noted that BYU students benefit greatly from the prestige associated with such rankings. “All of our students get multiple offers,” stated Albrecht. “Our program is like a snowball rolling downhill, picking up momentum as it rolls along.”

The SOAIS is known for its high number of bilingual students, resulting from a student body composed largely of returned LDS missionaries. SOAIS graduates also have a positive reputation among employers, causing many large firms to recruit heavily at BYU. In 1998, 100 percent of the School’s 156 graduates were placed before graduation, 70 percent with one of the Big Five firms.

Lee Radebaugh, newly appointed director of the SOAIS, attributed the improved ranking to outstanding students and a dynamic faculty. Radebaugh stated that his plans for the future of the School include a “focus on globalization and technology, which will help our students prepare to be successful in the 21st century.”

The Public Accounting Report’s rankings of the top five schools differed only slightly from the 1997 rankings. The University of Texas/Austin retained its first place ranking, while the University of Southern California climbed from fourth to third place in the graduate category. The University of Illinois slipped from their second place 1997 ranking to fourth place this year.