Accounting

Types of Degrees Accounting Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many accounting graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	40,317
Master’s Degree	14,622
Associate Degree	3,837
Basic Certificate	1,771
Undergraduate Certificate	954
Graduate Certificate	527
Doctor’s Degree	53

What Accounting Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to accounting and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Accounting Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Accounting Majors

When studying accounting, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Accounting Majors

A major in accounting will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Accounting Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with accounting:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Accountants	10.0%	$70,500
Auditors	10.0%	$70,500
Budget Analysts	6.5%	$76,220
Business Professors	18.0%	$83,960
Credit Analysts	8.3%	$71,520
Financial Examiners	9.7%	$80,180

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting?

Roughly 51% of the graduates are women, and 49% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of accounting majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	3,479
Black or African American	2,751
Hispanic or Latino	6,191
White	23,241
International Students	1,787
Other Races/Ethnicities	2,868

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Accounting. About 4.4% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Accounting

Some degrees associated with accounting may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to accounting have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	7.9%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.6%
Some College Courses	10.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	9.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	45.5%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.8%
Master’s Degree	11.8%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.6%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.1%
Doctoral Degree	11.5%

Online Accounting Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	152	41
Certificate (2-4 Years)	9	3
Associate’s Degree	384	120
Bachelor’s Degree	120	34
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	517	128
Post-Master’s	21	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	22	2
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	1	1

Majors Related to Accounting

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to accounting.

Major	Number of Grads
Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping	16,867
Accounting and Finance	3,496
Accounting and Business/Management	1,349
Other Accounting and Related Services	795
Auditing	172

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Pixabay under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.