Masters Program Has One of Highest Job Placement Rates

The economy is in the dumps.  The job market is weakening.  The government may have just

taken out $1 trillion in corporate buyouts.  But Dave Kitchen's is not the least bit worried.  A

graduate student in KU's Masters of Accounting Program, he has crunched the numbers and

figures.  He's crunched the numbers and the job odds are in his favor.

The one year graduate program has a 95 percent job placement rate.  Last year, it was 100

percent.  In an economy with such uncertainty, this program is prospering.  The program's job

placement rate is one of the highest on campus.


"If we didn't have a strong program and we weren't KU, I don't think we would have the same

story," said Professor and Director of Accounting and Information Systems, James Heintz. 

"We'd have a good story, but I think ours is overwhelming."  

The demand for accountants is growing, regardless of the current economic state.

Kitchen summarizes that whether the job market is strong or weak, taxes and audits aren't

going away.  


"Pair that with the fact that many accountants are at the point of retirement and you have the

perfect work opportunity," he said.


In 2002, with the collapse of Enron and the Arthur Andersen Public Accounting Firm, it was

an unfavorable period for the accounting sector.  Surprisingly, the long-term effect turned out

to be positive for accountants.

"Even though the company went under and a public accounting firm went under, it actually

increased the need for accountants," Lisa Ottinger, the director of KU's Masters of

Accounting Program said, referring to the Arthur Andersen Public Accounting Firm.  "Also,

there was so much publicity about it that students became interested in the profession.  It's

kind of an interesting turn out."

Ottinger said this required companies to enforce a lot of regulations to try and prevent

something like Enron from happening again.  Because of the fallout, the Sarbannes and

Oxley Act was passed by Congress in 2002.  This federal law imposed stricter regulations on

public businesses.

"That act changed the accounting and auditing regulatory environment," Heintz said.  "It

ramped up the requirements.  That act has caused an explosion in the demand for

accountants- beyond what we had before."

Ottinger said KU's Masters program, a 30-hour curriculum (five years to receive both a

bachelors and masters) has grown 50 percent from last year.  In addition, the student is able

to sit for the CPA exam.  The three tracks offered are audit, tax and information systems.

"I enjoy everything about accounting," Kitchens, the masters student, said.  "I enjoy

crunching numbers.  I enjoy the work that goes into it."

Kitchens would like to work for one of the big four accounting firms: KMPG,

PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, or Deloitte.  He'd like to start out in Kansas City

and eventually move to Seattle.

Kitchens is keeping his options open.


Mize, Houser and Company, a tax services and accounting firm in Lawrence, has seen the

necessity for accountants.

"With accounting, you don't want to do it yourself.  You need a specialist's help," Paige

Hatfield, an accountant for the firm said.