Another year of Washington CPA Foundation scholarship awards has been completed, with $5,000 and $8,000 scholarship checks hitting registrars’ offices in late summer. This year, a record number of students started scholarship applications, which I think is a reflection of the struggles that students experienced in the face of this pandemic. More than 80 members, our largest number to date, stepped up to meet the challenge of reviewing applications and scoring this year’s applicant pool.

As we look to the future, the Foundation continues to adapt to environmental changes in the profession and seeks to continue to lift barriers to entry for the accountants of tomorrow. CPA Evolution is on the horizon and with it continues the debate over how well the accounting curriculum in the United States serves the needs of students and practitioners, and on how prepared students are to take the CPA Exam.

Increasing Master’s Scholarship Awards

The 150-credit requirement was initially developed with the expectation that most students would pursue graduate degrees. Due to the rising cost of higher education, increase of student debt, and added pressure of delaying work another year, we know many students are pursuing the 30 credits by taking additional courses concurrently with their bachelor’s degrees. In addition, research has found that the pass rate for graduate degree holders was significantly greater than that for bachelor’s degree holders, with a 10% higher pass rate for graduate students. The Foundation increased award amounts in 2019 from $5,000 to $8,000 for master’s students to help address those challenges and build a stronger pipeline. We plan to increase award amounts to $10,000 for master’s degree students next year to continue to support these efforts to best prepare students for the CPA exam.

Devoted to Pipeline Diversity

The Foundation has also remained committed to making progress in supporting a more diverse pipeline of accounting students into the profession. In 2016, the first year of the Washington State Board of Accountancy scholarship partnership, only 17 percent of applicants identified themselves as diverse (with 34 percent as Caucasian and 46 percent unidentified). In 2021, 40 percent of Foundation scholarship recipients self-identified as diverse applicants. We have changed how we solicit this data from scholarship applicants (asking before and after the award process) in order to maintain the best records of metrics and success. We also modified on-campus marketing tactics at nontraditional campuses, where we saw a significant increase in applicants. Currently, our scholarships support rising juniors through fifth year or master’s students. This year, in an effort to continue to increase access to the profession, the Foundation approved $20,000 in additional scholarship funds to support students at the rising college freshman or sophomore level. These awards will support students at $2,000 for the first two years of their education. WSCPA will also continue to support these members with a student membership and work on wrap-around support and programs within this community to provide increased networking, mentorship and professional exposure to careers possible with a CPA license. As with all our scholarships, students will be eligible to reapply for funds every year.

We are excited about this new scholarship venture and the opportunity to fund and welcome even more students to our community. You are encouraged to support our efforts by becoming a scholarship reviewer or spreading the word about these scholarships. We know that students are more likely to apply for a scholarship if someone personally asks them to apply. Consider inviting a high school senior with an interest in accounting or a student contemplating an MPAcc to apply for a Washington CPA Scholarship. Applications will be open for all Washington CPA Foundation Scholarship opportunities in the fall.

Meet the foundation's 2021-2022 scholarship winners, here.

Monette Anderson is the WSCPA Director of Membership and staff liaison to the Washington CPA Foundation. You can contact her at manderson@wscpa.org.

This article appears in the summer 2021 issue of the Washington CPA magazine. Read more here.