Accountancy faculty support scholarship for community college students, invest in industry's future

Faculty members at ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business are committed to helping students achieve their educational and career goals. Going beyond the classroom setting, faculty dedicate time and energy to assist students in a number of ways, including overcoming financial barriers that could prevent their pursuit of higher education.

Faculty members at ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business are committed to helping students achieve their educational and career goals. Going beyond the classroom setting, faculty dedicate time and energy to assist students in a number of ways, including overcoming financial barriers that could prevent their pursuit of higher education.

A great example is the School of Accountancy Faculty's Community College Scholarship, a scholarship fund for community college students interested in pursuing a four-year degree in accounting at Arizona State University. This fund was created and continues to be supported by faculty from the highly ranked School of Accountancy, who recognized a need for more students within the accounting profession and saw the opportunity to reach a new group of students.

Professor of Practice Jim Bosserman spearheads fundraising efforts for the scholarship every year, encouraging his fellow faculty members and other donors to support this cause that means so much to him, the faculty, and the school.

"It is so important to give back to the profession that fostered our careers," says Bosserman. "Our faculty also hears the appreciation directly from the scholarship recipients in their letters to the faculty, and they also see them in the classroom. As one recipient said, 'I want to thank the accountancy faculty for this tremendous support.'"

The W. P. Carey School spoke to Bosserman about why giving back is meaningful to him, and how the School of Accountancy Faculty's Community College Scholarship and other similar funds provide critical support to students.

Question: What inspired the School of Accountancy faculty to start the scholarship fund for community college students? Why is this particular scholarship important to students and the School of Accountancy?

Answer: At the time, the accounting profession was experiencing a decrease in students choosing to pursue accounting majors across the country. However, there was not a decrease in the need and demand for accounting majors in business. We looked at alternatives to increase enrollment, and there was an opportunity to tap into a pipeline of quality students from community colleges who could continue their education and obtain a bachelor’s degree in accounting at ASU.

We also knew from our personal experience that the accounting degree was a great pathway for students to have a successful career in business because accounting is the language of business. It offers incredible and diverse career opportunities in accounting, general business, or both.

This effort coincided with an effort to engage the CPA firms in initiating their scholarships, as part of an overall effort to attract more students to accounting careers. The faculty scholarship shows our commitment to supporting the profession, and it was supported by CPA firms and accounting professionals.

Q: Why is giving back important to you and the School of Accountancy faculty?

A: It is so important to give back to the profession that fostered our careers. From our own personal and professional experiences, we understand the full potential of a career in accounting. Many of us spent time in the public accounting profession working with a variety of industry sectors, as well as big and small businesses. We have also had the opportunity to teach accounting and conduct significant research in the ever-changing accounting, audit, tax, and consulting areas.

Our consistent message to students in the classroom is that accounting can provide an incredible career opportunity because it is so critical for business and society as the financial language of business. It creates all types of opportunities in business and a career.

The scholarship gave us an opportunity to lend our financial support to students. Our faculty also hears the appreciation from the scholarship recipients in their letters to the faculty, and they see them in the classroom. The students who receive the faculty scholarship tell us how proud they are to be the recipient of a scholarship from their faculty.

Q: What have you achieved and hope to achieve, as a result of this effort?

A: Since the inception of the scholarship fund four years ago, we have granted 16 scholarships.

For this year, we have a goal to provide four more scholarships of $2,500 for our faculty-sponsored Scholarship Fund for the Community College Outreach Initiative for the 2025-2026 academic year. This is a total goal of over $10,000, which includes a $2,500 scholarship for four students. This year, we will have two juniors and two seniors. We typically retain enough to fund the two juniors the following year.

Our hope is that we will be able to continue to fund students for the foreseeable future and grow the number of students we can support. To this end, we are opening the scholarship fund to individuals from the accounting profession who are interested in supporting students moving from a community college to a four-year degree in accounting at ASU. We have already received multi-year commitments from individuals in the profession who personally know our faculty and the importance of this support for us and the profession. The additional support from the profession should provide for the long-term stability of the Community College Scholarship fund.