Educating for the public trust

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The PricewaterhouseCoopers position on accounting education

To show how accounting education can help the profession travel the road to public trust, we begin this volume with our position on accounting education. It is based on our extensive experience with students and faculty; on our research on success in the firm; on lengthy discussions with a number of professors and administrators; on ongoing dialogue within our firm; and on an intense study of curricula at nine universities. We intend our comments to support the continuing conscientious stewardship of the trust the profession places in the academy, and we hope our views will stimulate productive dialogue on the future of accounting education. It is important to note that the positions we take are our own and should not be attributed to any of the faculty or institutions that have provided input to us. To help provide context for our position, we have included a summary of our Curriculum Study in this monograph. PricewaterhouseCoopers commissioned Dr. Clifton F. Conrad and Ms. Kim Rapp of the University of Wisconsin to study the curricula at nine universities and at PwC. Completed in late 2002, this research broke new ground in the breadth and depth of its analysis of what is actually happening in the classroom and in understanding the intersection between collegiate education and continuing professional education. It provides important insight into the current state of accounting education.