AICPA Awards Accounting Scholarships to AA Degree Holders

The AICPA has announced that five students transitioning from community colleges to four-year universities have been awarded the inaugural AICPA Foundation Two Year Transfer Scholarship. These students have earned an associate’s degree in business, accounting, finance or economics with a declared intent to major in accounting at a four-year college or university and will receive $1,000 towards their tuition for the 2014-2015 school year. The awards are funded by the AICPA Foundation.

Community colleges are a popular option for students – many of whom transfer to four-year colleges after receiving their Associates degree. Research from the 2011-2012 school year found that 37 percent of students enrolled in community colleges were in the first generation of their family to attend college.
“At the AICPA, we recognize that all students don’t follow the same path on their journey to become CPAs,” said Joanne Fiore, AICPA vice president of professional media, pathways and inclusion. “We’ve expanded our generous scholarship program to award deserving students who have transferred from two-year colleges.”
The 2014-15 AICPA Foundation Two-Year Transfer Scholarship recipients are listed below in alphabetical order:

Lisa Dimery, University of Colorado Denver
Kaitlyn Fox, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Gabriel Rollano, University of South Florida
Simon Valdez, University of Texas at San Antonio
Matthew Warr, University of Wyoming

The scholarship recipients will become part of the AICPA Legacy Scholars program, which was established in 2011. The program awards recipients a one-year AICPA Legacy Scholarship and uses service work to help them develop the soft skills needed to maintain a successful career. Scholarship recipients plan, promote and execute an eight-hour service project each semester. The service activity must relate to accounting, serve the community and be meaningful to the student.

AICPA Legacy Scholars are Student Affiliate Members of the AICPA, which is a free membership option available to all currently enrolled students. Each AICPA Legacy Scholar is assigned a coach to provide guidance on the student’s service project and to advise on questions related to the profession and the work environment.

The application deadline for the 2015-2016 AICPA Foundation Two-Year Transfer Scholarship is April 1, 2015. For more information about this and other AICPA scholarship programs, visit www.aicpa.org/scholarships.

Since its establishment in 1922, the vision of the AICPA Foundation has been to advance the science of accountancy and accounting education. Guided by a core ideology and principles, the Foundation is committed to supporting and growing the next generation of CPAs through three primary focuses – to advance the science of accountancy, develop and improve accountancy education, and benefit the public by supporting financial education, ethical business behavior and a culturally diverse accounting profession.