Do Harvard University Accounting Degree Programs Get You The Big Bucks?


Are Harvard University accounting degree programs in fact worthy of the great name?

As one of the eight Ivy League universities, Harvard’s reputation is unsurpassed.

We look at its business school to find out whether Harvard University accounting degrees are still for show or the real deal.

Harvard University: Facts and Figures

Eight US Presidents, 32 Heads of State, 47 Nobel Laureates, 48 Pulitzer Prize winners, 62 living billionaires, 335 Rhodes Scholars…it would be a fair understatement say that Harvard has produced some rather impressive graduates since it was founded in 1636.

As the country’s oldest institution of higher learning, Harvard is also one of, if not the, most prestigious.

The US News and World Report, as well as a number of other ranking systems have rated it consistently as the number one university in the nation and the world, although a Princeton Review poll recently named it “only” the second most commonly named dream college by students and parents (after guess who…Princeton).

Home to around 21,000 students, its main campus is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 3 miles from downtown Boston.

And in case you weren’t impressed with enough Harvard facts yet, here’s a couple more for you: the Harvard University Library is the largest academic library in the nation, and the university has the largest financial endowment of any university in the world, at $53.2bn in June 2022.

We could go on, but let’s look at the business school, and specifically, Harvard University accounting degree programs.

Harvard Business School

All you need to know is that the Harvard Business School is ranked as the number one business school in the world by most indicators.

Note that it is a graduate school only, so you’ll have to get your Bachelor’s degree from a college deemed by Harvard as an accredited institution first.

Harvard Accounting Masters Program

You go to Harvard to do an MBA. The two year course is based around their Case Method and Field Immersion Experience coursework.

Both involves students placing themselves inside business simulation case studies and provides opportunities to translate their ideas into the real world. During their time there, Harvard MBA students are involved with over 500 cases.

The first year of the two year program commences with personal leadership activities and small team projects, and the development of a micro-business.

In the second year, there is an opportunity to select electives from one of the ten departments, including accounting.

The school also offers what it calls the “2+2 Program”, a deferred admissions process.

It provides students currently undertaking undergraduate or Master’s degrees elsewhere the opportunity to undertake two years of work experience followed by two years of the Harvard MBA program.

Harvard Accounting PhD Program

There are eight Doctorate programs available at Harvard, including accounting and management. Research topics fall within two streams: financial reporting and analysis, and management accounting.

Harvard University Accounting Degree Program : Summary

There’s not much to say about the Harvard Business School that hasn’t already been said. It’s basically the most prestigious business school in the world.

And having “The World’s Most Prestigious Business School” written on your resume is certainly a nice way to open doors at the start of your career.

Obviously you need to be two things to get into Harvard: smart and rich. But you also need to present well.

The application process is strict and those that satisfy the academic and written requirements then have to get through the interview stage.

To the students that say their time at Harvard was made less enjoyable by having to put up with spoilt, rich brats as their classmates, we say get over it.

It’s Harvard.

Be grateful you got to spend some time at one of the world’s great universities. And if you graduate from the Harvard University accounting degree programs, you’ll have one of the world’s great business degrees.