AICPA Awards 15 Scholarships to Students Transferring from Community Colleges to 4-Year Schools

The AICPA has announced this year’s recipients of its AICPA Foundation Two Year Transfer Scholarship award. Part of the AICPA’s Legacy Scholars program, the award is bestowed upon students attending two-year colleges with a declared intent to major in accounting at a four-year college or university. The students will receive $3,000 towards their tuition for the 2015-2016 school year, provided by the AICPA Foundation.

With the rising costs of college tuition, community colleges are a growing option for students – many of whom transfer to four-year colleges after receiving their Associates degree. A report released in March by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that 46 percent of students who completed a four-year degree had been enrolled at a two-year institution at some point in the past 10 years.

“We’ve noticed an increased trend of students from two-year schools transferring to four-year colleges and universities as they work towards entering the accounting profession. The AICPA Foundation Two Year Transfer Scholarship recognizes these exceptional students for their achievement,” said Joanne Fiore, AICPA vice president of professional media, pathways and inclusion. “The AICPA is committed to building the CPA pipeline by drawing from a pool of the best and brightest from diverse paths to the profession. These students’ inclusion in the AICPA Legacy Scholars program will provide them with helpful guidance and resources as they work towards earning their CPA license.”

The 2015-2016 AICPA Foundation Two-Year Transfer Scholarship award recipients are listed below in alphabetical order:

Naira Aliyeva, Florida Atlantic University
Sarah Bergsman, Portland State University
Leah Brantley, Northeastern University
Gabriel Cerbana, Seattle University
Edgar Delgadillo-Plasencia, Oklahoma State University
Anh Dinh, California State University, Long Beach
Sandra Gaviria, University of Massachusets Boston
Taylor Hildebrand, Temple University
Anastasia Maksimova, University of Missouri, Kansas City
Trevor Pettway, University of Oklahoma
Bradlee Rogers, Radford University
Mark Stratton, Arizona State University
Lauren Theobald, Middle Tennessee State University
Pernell Wise, North Carolina Central University
Stephen Wong, University of Southern California

The AICPA Foundation Two Year Transfer Scholarship award is one of four scholarship awards available through the AICPA Legacy Scholars program. The program was created in 2011 and awards recipients a one-year AICPA scholarship while helping to develop the soft skills needed to sustain a successful career through service. Scholarship recipients perform eight hours of service each semester planning and executing events on campus to advocate for the accounting profession.

The AICPA Legacy Scholars program will provide more than 100 scholarships for the 2015-2016 academic year, totaling more than $485,000 for students from all across the nation.

AICPA Legacy Scholars are Student Affiliate Members of the AICPA, which is a free membership option available to college students. Each AICPA Legacy Scholar is given access to a coach to provide mentoring on the student’s service events and guidance on questions related to the profession.

The scholarship award winners were chosen from more than 700 AICPA Legacy Scholarship applicants. Eligible applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and completed at least 30 semester hours in college-level coursework, including six semester hours in accounting. A task force comprised of AICPA Student Recruitment Committee members, CPA volunteers selected the recipients based on academic achievement; demonstration of leadership and volunteerism; and, overall commitment to becoming a licensed CPA.

The application deadline for the 2016-17 AICPA Legacy Scholarship is April 1, 2016. More information, about the AICPA Legacy Scholars Program and other scholarship awards offered to accounting students are available online.

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