Cal State Fullerton’s Department of Accounting has attained school status, making the new School of Accountancy one of only four such entities in California. The status change highlights the strength of one of the largest undergraduate accounting programs in the nation.
“This is a game-changer for both Cal State Fullerton and the region,” said CSUF President Fram Virjee. “The future of Orange County has arrived with Titans leading the way in preparing students to be cutting-edge, culturally agile, and workforce ready.”
Plans for the creation of the school began in 2019, when the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business — the body that accredits top business schools — felt that CSUF’s program was worthy of school status. The plan gained traction and was approved by Virjee this year.
The AACSB’s sentiment comes as no surprise, as “the accounting program consistently attracts top-notch students,” said Vivek Mande, director of the new school. “For the past three years, CSUF accounting students were chosen for the prestigious CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement, an honor given to only one student at each CSU campus.”
Jocelyn Lee ’19 (B.A. business administration-accounting) credits the accounting program for helping her ace the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination in 2020 — an exam that has a national pass rate of only 50%. She received the Elijah Watt Sells Award from the American Institute of CPAs — one of only 89 individuals among the 75,000 who sat for the exam that year, and the first candidate from CSUF to receive the award.
As a result, CSUF accounting graduates are highly sought-after by local employers.
“We are proud of the connection between our College of Business and Economics curriculum and the skills our graduates need to contribute to our region,” said Carolyn Thomas, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “We’re looking forward to even greater visibility for the school, and awareness of the ways it incorporates emerging technologies, analytics and real-world experiences to prepare our students for the ongoing changes inherent to doing business in our digital age.”
Apart from curriculum changes, the School of Accountancy also will offer more resources for faculty-student research and projects, extracurricular workshops in interpersonal skills and career development, and increased support for faculty and student engagement with the professional community.
“Our forward-looking curriculum trains the workforce of tomorrow and is an engine in driving business growth in Orange County,” said Sridhar Sundaram, dean of the College of Business and Economics. “Over the past few years, technology and analytics have revolutionized the accounting industry. We will keep evolving our program so that our students are equipped to be leaders in the field.”
To learn more about the program, visit CSUF’s School of Accountancy website.