Background

The largest accounting firms, in 2008, created the Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) Program to help reverse the shortage of Ph.D. accounting faculty in auditing and tax in U.S. colleges and universities. The program is administered by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Foundation. To date, more than 65 of the country’s biggest accounting firms and 45 state CPA societies have committed nearly $17 million to the program. The program provides funding for up to 30 new candidates each year for four years for a total of 120 newly educated Ph.D.s in auditing and tax.

The ADS Program addresses a critical need in the accounting profession’s history. While student enrollment in college accounting programs is at an all time high and there is a huge demand for accounting graduates, the graduation of Ph.D.s in accounting has declined significantly over the past decade. There is an especially critical need for accounting faculty members in auditing and tax.

Over 43 percent of current accounting faculty members at U.S. colleges and universities are 55 or older, which foreshadows a serious crisis in the near future. Strong doctoral accounting faculties are essential for advancing the body of professional knowledge and to prepare talented, skilled accountants to meet future needs.

Ensuring a robust supply of accounting faculty is a recommendation of the Human Capital Subcommittee of the U.S. Treasury Secretary’s Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession. The subcommittee endorsed increasing the number of accounting faculty through public and private funding.

We encourage individuals in the practice of auditing and tax to seriously consider a career devoted to changing lives and contributing to greater insights to issues encountered in practice.