DePaul University is collaborating with the Deloitte Foundation in the Deloitte Foundation Accounting Scholars Program (DFASP) to fund academic scholarships in an effort to support a racially and ethnically diverse student population and help strengthen the pipeline of diverse certified public accountant (CPA) talent.
CHICAGO – The School of Accountancy & MIS (SOAMIS) at DePaul University
is collaborating with the Deloitte Foundation in the Deloitte Foundation
Accounting Scholars Program (DFASP) to fund academic scholarships. The
funding is made in an effort to support a racially and ethnically diverse
student population and help strengthen the pipeline of diverse certified
public accountant (CPA) talent. The collaboration allows SOAMIS to offer
full-tuition scholarships to selected students who enroll in DePaul’s
Master of Science in Audit and Advisory Services
(MSAA) program.
“We are excited to collaborate with the Deloitte Foundation to work to
strengthen the pipeline of diverse talent within the accounting
profession,” says DePaul Professor of Accounting Kelly Richmond Pope, CPA,
who chairs the Deloitte Foundation Accounting Scholars Selection Committee
at DePaul. “According to a 2019 report from the American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants, only 6% of CPAs identify as Black or
Hispanic/Latinx and we plan to address this issue by educating and
nurturing the next generation of accounting leaders.”
The DFASP expects to fund $30 million in scholarships for students pursuing
degrees in fifth-year master’s in accounting programs at select Association
to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-accredited schools, including
DePaul’s SOAMIS, over the next six years in an effort to increase
representation of racially and ethnically diverse students in accountancy
programs. Participating schools and the Deloitte Foundation will cover 100%
of tuition (excluding books and living expenses) for selected students.
The DFASP is a critical tenet of Deloitte’s Making Accounting Diverse and
Equitable (MADE), a $75 million commitment to generate more opportunities
and leadership pathways for the next generation of CPAs. MADE aims to
transform the future of the accounting profession, combining both financial
support and resources to help address the identified barriers faced by
racially and ethnically diverse students, and support them as they chart
their pathway from high school to business professional to leadership in
the profession.
“Our Deloitte Foundation is laser focused on driving education initiatives
that help prepare the next generation of diverse business leaders,” said
Erin Scanlon, Deloitte Foundation president. “We are proud to fund the Deloitte
Foundation Accounting Scholars Program as an important step in
strengthening the pipeline of next generation CPA talent.”
Associate Professor David Wang,
DePaul’s MSAA faculty director and an associate dean at the Driehaus
College of Business, says the college “welcomes the opportunity to support
diverse talent entering our MSAA program and the CPA profession. Empowering
students from underrepresented communities to help them succeed is a core
value of our university’s mission.”
Interested students should
apply to DePaul’s Master of Science in Audit and Advisory Services
program
at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business for entry in fall 2022 and
separately apply to be considered for the
DFASP.
For more information about the DFASP, contact DePaul Professor of
Accountancy Kelly Pope at kpope2@depaul.edu and visit the
Deloitte MADE website.
About DePaul University
DePaul University
was founded in Chicago in 1898 by the Congregation of the Mission
(Vincentians), a Roman Catholic religious community dedicated to following
the ideals of St. Vincent de Paul, the 17th century priest for whom the
university is named. DePaul’s tradition of providing a quality education to
students from a broad range of backgrounds, with particular attention to
first-generation students, has resulted in one of the nation’s most diverse
student bodies. With nearly 22,000 students and some 300 academic programs,
DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the
largest private, nonprofit university in the Midwest. It is nationally
recognized for incorporating service learning throughout its curriculum and
preparing its graduates for a global economy. DePaul’s
Driehaus College of Business
is home to the
Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, which enrolls nearly 6,700 students in the DePaul MBA, specialized
master’s programs and a doctorate in business administration that prepare
socially responsible leaders to succeed in the diverse and globalized
business environment.
About the Deloitte Foundation
The Deloitte Foundation, founded in 1928, is a not-for-profit organization
that supports education in the U.S. through a variety of initiatives that
help develop the next generation of diverse business leaders, and their
influencers, and promote excellence in teaching, research and curriculum
innovation. The Foundation sponsors an array of national programs relevant
to a variety of professional services, benefiting high school students,
undergraduates, graduate students and educators. Learn more about the Deloitte Foundation.
About Deloitte
Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about
for a detailed description of our legal structure.
###
Media contact:
Mary Hansen
mhanse26@depaul.edu
312-362-8592 (Desk)
newsroom@depaul.edu
312-241-9856 (Media line)