
Joe Schroeder, second from left, is the seventh faculty chair of Graduate Accounting Programs.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Kelley School of Business is marking the silver anniversary of Graduate Accounting Programs and the graduation of its first successful alumni.
More than 150 alumni are expected to return to Bloomington for a two-day celebration on July 11-12 at IU Bloomington, which will culminate with a gala dinner at Presidents Hall. Other activities will include coffee and casual meetups and visits to nostalgic spots on and off campus. Registration for the event is now closed.
For a quarter century, Graduate Accounting Programs has presented degree programs that have met the demands and needs of a profession that has evolved from providing accounting, auditing and tax services into one providing a broader range of services.
Many of its 2,265 graduates today help firms to navigate through complex financial challenges and serve as trusted, strategic advisors. Nearly a thousand, 997, have graduated with a master’s degree and another 1,268 have earned a 3/2 MBA degree. Both degrees had their first graduating classes in 1999.
“We used to be focused on practitioner type education and now we’ve pushed forward to creating critical thinkers,” said Joe Schroeder, chairperson of Graduate Accounting Programs, a professor of accounting and PwC Faculty Fellow.
Before 1988, most states only required an undergraduate degree as a prerequisite for Certified Public Accounting licensure. But that year the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants pushed for an increase from 120 credit hours – the number needed complete an undergraduate degree – to 150 credit hours. Over the prior decade, large accounting firms also began moving into consulting. (more…)