How Hot Are The Arizona State University Accounting Degree Programs?

We take a look at Arizona State University accounting degree programs to see how one of the largest universities in the country stacks up. Like the idea of studying in the sunshine? Well, Phoenix has plenty.

Arizona State University: Facts and Figures

Spread across four campuses in the Phoenix metropolitan area, Arizona State is a public university with an enrolment of around 74,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Unlike most multi-campus schools, it sees itself as “one university in many places”, with each campus distinctive, yet focussed on achieving the overall university mission.

Founded in 1885, the school still has six of the original buildings in operation. After experiencing significant budget cuts during the global economic downturn of 2009, the university has re-embarked on a series of new buildings to further expand its footprint and improve facilities.

As part of recent works, the Oxford University styled West campus – which is the business school’s location – has recently opened a brand new residence hall, dining facility and recreational center. 

In case you’re not paying attention and still dreaming about that sunshine on your face, you might want to reach for a damp flannel. Or an ice bath. The temperature in Phoenix reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) for 110 days of the year on average. 

Those brand new buildings come with brand new air conditioners, right?

WP Carey School of Business

The WP Carey School of Business is one of the largest business schools in the country with around 10,000 students. Its programs are consistently rated in the top 30 by various media outlet surveys. Impressively, it ranked number four for recruiter preference in a survey by The Wall Street Journal, indicating that prospective employees see a degree from Arizona State as an attractive thing.

WP Carey Accounting Undergraduate Program

Carey’s undergraduate accounting program was ranked at number 16 by the US News and World Report. The School offers a Bachelor of Science, with the ability to major in one of eight fields, including accountancy.

WP Carey Accounting Master’s Program

The school offers two nine-month Master’s degrees that prepare students to sit for the CPA examination:

  • Master of Accountancy; and

  • Master of Taxation.

For both degrees, the university claims an employment rate of close to 100% for domestic graduates within 90 days of graduation. You can’t ask for much more than that.

WP Carey Accounting PhD Program

A well-regarded doctorate program is also available through the Carey School of Business. Applicants are expected to go through a rigorous selection process, with around 10 to 15 selected each year to attend the program.

Arizona State University Accounting Degree Programs: Summary

Arizona State comes across as a college that doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. 

It knows it’s never going to be a Harvard, so it concentrates on what it does best: being a good quality public university that offers a value-for-money education and decent career prospects afterwards. 

If you want the “typical” college experience, you probably aren’t going to get it here. This isn’t a temperate college town. Rather, Arizona State is a very large university situated in the middle of a very large city in the middle of a desert. It campuses are attractive, and its facilities ageing, but plenty of money is going towards improving them.

Degrees from the WP Carey School of Business are rated highly by external sources, and the employment conversion rate that the school claims is a major selling point.

Overall, the Arizona State University accounting degree programs are a solid choice. If you can stand the heat…