AICPA Announces Scholarships for Non-Business Backgrounds

Five outstanding students have been named recipients of the 2015-2016 AICPA John L. Carey Scholarship Award. The one-year scholarship award, part of the AICPA’s Legacy Scholars Program, is bestowed upon students from liberal arts and other non-traditional business backgrounds who are pursuing graduate accounting degrees and plan to become CPAs.

The winners are:
• Tegyanem Gizaw, University of Missouri – Kansas City
• John Jakmides, The Ohio State University
• Sayaka Ross, San Diego State University
• Charles Walper, University of Texas – Austin
• Hayley Wilk, The University of Michigan

Each recipient has received a scholarship for $5,000 to help cover tuition and other educational expenses. The funding is provided by a contribution to the AICPA Foundation in honor of John L. Carey, who retired from the AICPA in 1969 after an illustrious 40-year career with the organization. He served as administrative vice president, executive director, and editor and publisher of the Journal of Accountancy. Carey was known for encouraging exemplary students from all backgrounds to become CPAs throughout his career – both as a CPA and as a professor at universities in Georgia and Illinois.

“The John L. Carey Scholarship was created with the idea in mind that there are multiple different paths to the profession and this year’s recipients underscore that point,” said AICPA Foundation President and former AICPA Chairman of the Board Randy Fletchall. “These hard-working individuals will enrich the profession with their unique perspectives and serve their employers and clients for many years to come.”

Recipients of the John L. Carey Scholarship were selected by a task force that considered their applications, academic transcripts, recommendation letters, and personal essays. Applicants are chosen based on academic achievement, leadership and commitment to pursuing a CPA license. Additionally, applicants must be full-time graduate-level students for the upcoming academic year.
The AICPA John L. Carey 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 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 recipients were chosen from more than 700 AICPA Legacy Scholarship applicants. Eligible applicants must have completed at least 30 semester hours in college-level coursework, including six semester hours in accounting, and have a minimum GPA of 3.0. A task force comprised of AICPA Student Recruitment Committee members, CPA volunteers, selected the recipients.

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

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: accounting education and outreach; scholarships and fellowships; and diversity and inclusion.

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