Get into the business of doing business better through our elite AACSB-accredited school where your business training and professional polish will put you at the forefront of marketability.

Accounting

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A national leader, Commonwealth University's accounting program focuses on decision modeling, risk analysis and measurement, and reporting of financial information. It's no wonder we have the highest CPA exam pass rate in the State System and a more than 90% job placement rate for more than a decade.

Degrees & Offerings
  • B.S.B.A.
Location
  • Bloomsburg
  • Lock Haven
  • Mansfield
Department
College
Program Contact
Professor
Secretary of the Department of Accounting and Business Law
Illustration of Mountain

Program Overview

  • AACSB Accredited - AACSB schools have the highest quality faculty (possessing several major certifications: CPA, CMA, CIA, CFE, CFM, CGM), relevant and challenging curricula, and provide educational and career opportunities not found at other business schools. Many top, global corporations only recruit from AACSB-accredited schools and those grads are offered better, more competitive salaries.
  • Applied Curriculum: Coursework driven by course-embedded projects, industry-leading software, simulations, and cases.
  • Zeigler Institute for Professional Development (ZIPD): Sponsors executive panels, seminars, and a business conference to help students develop professional skills and network with alumni. 
  • Graduate School Pathway (4+1) — If you're pursuing to become a licensed CPA in Pennsylvania, completing our undergraduate program, and staying an additional year to complete the Master of Accountancy (MAcc) or Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduate programs will allow you to fulfill the 150 hours of post-secondary education required.

Course Delivery Format

  Bloomsburg

  Face-to-Face
  Online
  Hybrid

  Lock Haven

  Face-to-Face
  Online
  Hybrid

  Mansfield

  Face-to-Face
  Online
  Hybrid

  Clearfield

  Face-to-Face
  Online
  Hybrid

Courses and Curriculum

The accounting program curriculum is tailored to address the demands confronted by today's professional accountants. You might not think it the case, but successful accountants spend more time working with people than with numbers.

To prepare for a BSBA in accounting, students take a combination of specialized business classes and round them out with general education courses.

  • Core business courses include basic accounting, information technology, management, finance, marketing, and business law.
  • The accounting specialization includes ten advanced accounting courses plus business and commercial law.
  • General education courses include composition, public speaking, business mathematics, economics, and business statistics. 

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Accounting Major

Students completing the program should possess the critical thinking, problem solving, and technical skills to be able to:

  1. Accumulate and summarize transactional information. 
  2. Analyze, interpret, and communicate financial information in accordance with accounting rules.
  3. Analyze and communicate accounting information for decision making.
  4. Interpret income tax regulations for planning and compliance.
  5. Use audit standards and procedures to determine whether financial statements present fairly in all material respects.
  6. Follow professional and ethical standards imposed by law and licensing associations.

Accounting Minor

Students completing the program should be able to:

  1. Analyze financial accounting at the transactional and financial statement level.
  2. Analyze accounting information prepared by others for decision making.
Department of Business Interconnections, Analytics, and Workforce Learning
Illustration of Mountain

Commonwealth U Because

Faculty and alumni will help you every step of the way. Take advantage of every opportunity to become career-ready. Critical thinking and problem solving, combined with strong technical skills, will help you get ready to hit the ground running on the first day of your first job.

Careers

Our alumni are employed at such notable accounting firms as:

  • Deloitte and Touche
  • KPMG
  • Kreischer Miller
  • Boyer & Ritter
  • Ernst & Young
  • RKG

Internships

As an accounting major, you are encouraged to participate in internships during your junior or senior year. Many students have interned with public accounting firms, private businesses, or the nonpublic sector. Examples of accounting internships with accounting firms in recent years include:  

  • H&R Block 
  • Jackson Hewitt 
  • Emert & Associates 
  • Keystone Central School District 
  • First Quality 
  • Clinton County Tax Counseling for the Elderly 
  • Liberty Tax Service 
  • Smith, Elliot, Kearns, and Co. 

The Commonwealth Difference

75x75-aacsb-accredited
Accreditation
Many top, global corporations only recruit from AACSB-accredited schools. Those grads are offered better, more competitive salaries.
$71K
Competitive salary
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for accountants and auditors.
4%
Job Growth Projected
Our alumni are employed with Kreischer Miller, Boyer & Ritter, Ernst & Young, RKG, and more. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Careers

Many graduates become certified public accountants (CPAs), financial and investment analysts, auditors, financial managers, join corporations, or enroll in graduate school, including the Master of Accounting program at Commonwealth University. National, regional, and local public accounting firms, government agencies, and private sector organizations recruit on campus each year.

Potential Job Opportunities

  • Certified Public Accountant
  • Financial and Investment Analyst
  • Auditor
  • Financial Manager

Top Skills Employers are Looking For

  • Accounting
  • Auditing
  • Financial Statements
  • Financial Analysis
  • Financial Accounting

Continue to Explore

Brynn Gasperetti

"Being both an accounting major and a cheerleader at Lock Haven has been an incredible experience. My professors and coaching staff are dedicated to helping us succeed academically and professionally, and I've learned so much that's preparing me for a career in accounting. Balancing my studies with cheer has taught me discipline, teamwork, and time management, which are skills I know will benefit me in the future.

Brynn Gasperetti '28
Accounting
Tabitha Delmont, Accounting Student - Class of 2023

ZIPD has made me quite marketable in my future career field. The networking has already helped me make connections with potential employers. ZIPD has also taught me how to act and present myself professionally at networking events, interviews, and online.

Tabitha Delmont, Class of 2023
Accounting
Tabitha Delmont, Accounting Student - Class of 2023
Brynn Gasperetti

Accounting Contacts

CommonwealthU University Employee

Brooke Faus

  • Secretary of the Department of Accounting and Business Law
  • Bloomsburg
Loren Selznick

Loren Selznick

  • Professor, and Director of Diehl Center for Law School Preparation
  • Bloomsburg
CommonwealthU University Employee

David Sedlak

  • Assistant Professor of Business Law
  • Bloomsburg

Applying to This Program

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