Dive Brief:

• Of the top five business majors at U.S. four-year colleges and universities this spring, finance and accounting posted the biggest year-over-year enrollment increases at 9.4% and 8.9% respectively, according to a June report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center that tracks higher education trends. 
• The two majors outpaced the 2.2% increase in the number of students in the overall business major group. Enrollment in business administration, ticked up just 0.8% while enrollment for general business/commerce was roughly flat or down 0.1%, and marketing fell 2.9%.
• At undergraduate four-year colleges, the basket of business majors overall held its place as the biggest group by volume with 1.6 million students enrolled. The group was followed by health professions and related clinical sciences (1.05 million) and engineering (647,877). Still, health professions-related enrollment grew at a faster clip of 6.2% compared to businesses’ 2.2%.  

Dive Insight:

The recent robust rise in accounting enrollment has been encouraging for the industry, which has launched a multi-pronged effort to draw younger professionals into the field —  including by easing educational requirements for becoming a certified public accountant. 

“This is the third straight year we’ve seen increases, so accounting is really showing momentum right now among students,” Susan Coffey, CEO of public accounting at the American Institute of CPAs, said in a statement in a June 9 release. “...We’re seeing strong interest in the new CPA Exam, rising entry-level pay within firms and finance teams, and more buzz in general about accounting as a great career choice for students and young professionals. The word is getting out.” 

Back in 2024, tackling the time and cost of the education required to become a CPA and raising starting salaries were among the specific recommendations made by a group of accounting industry stakeholders charged with addressing an accounting talent shortage. Since then, more than 40 states have revamped licensing rules for CPA, making it possible to get certified with a bachelor’s degree instead of 150 credit hours, CFO Dive previously reported. 

But that report also noted that finance majors often were rewarded with higher entry level salaries than accounting majors. Since that time accounting firms have said they have sought to boost salaries and sweeten their compensation packages in other ways. For example, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young have announced this year that they are separately doubling the bonus they give new joiners for passing the CPA exam to $10,000, CFO Dive previously reported. 

While accounting salaries can rise very high particularly at Big Four firms, the allure of high-powered Wall Street pay may still be drawing some students to become finance majors. The most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics pegs accountants and auditors’ mean annual wage at $94,750 compared to financial and investments analysts’ $116,800.