Accounting
Earning an Accounting Degree Assures Your Return on Investment with a Profitable Career in the Business World
Successful businesses around the world depend on accurate accounting data to process, measure, and communicate details about their financial status. A degree in Accounting earns you a coveted seat at the boardroom table, with the expertise and insight you’ll need to advise and communicate profitability effectively.
Catawba has a long history of alumni who have pursued successful careers in Accounting, the Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting provides a strong background in the liberal arts and competency in accounting for entry level accounting positions. When combined with another business related degree, the B.A. in Accounting caters to the growing population of undergraduates interested in pursuing their CMA, CPA, and/or Master of Accountancy degree after graduation.
Colleges of Distinction, a national guide for colleges, recently recognized Catawba College for its academic programs in Business, including the Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting. The guide noted that Business programs offered through Catawba’s Ketner School of Business keep future leaders ahead of the curve and ready to grow alongside the industry. It also recognized Catawba for our “expert blending of the liberal arts with professional programming in Business.”
Catawba College’s Accounting degree program is one of several academic programs in the Ketner School of Business that is accredited by the Accreditation Council of Business School Programs (ACBSP).
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Two Degree Options
Whether you plan to make accounting your life’s work, or you plan to leverage your skills and savvy for Accounting across another discipline, Catawba has a degree program for you.
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CPA-Ready Program
Accounting majors are well-prepared for CPA licensure thanks to Catawba’s CPA-Ready Program of individualized faculty advising to assure the appropriate college credits are earned prior to graduation.
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Get Involved
Participate in the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), Future Business Leaders of America - Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), the Business Honor Society, or the National Society of Leadership and Success.
Two Options
Both the Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting offer its undergraduates strong professional preparation with a focus on ethics and integrity. To be CPA-ready, you must obtain 150-hours in coursework that will qualify you for licensure through individualized advising.
B.A. Degree in Accounting
Catawba College’s Bachelor of Arts in Accounting degree program offers its undergraduates strong professional preparation with a focus on ethics and integrity. Majors benefit from courses in financial accounting, managerial accounting, auditing and taxation as they prepare to pursue professional certification as a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) or to sit for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examination and licensure. In the Seminar in Accounting course, Catawba’s accounting majors explore current, relevant topics such as forensic accounting, international accounting, or environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) reporting.
B.S. Degree in Business Administration, Accounting Concentration
Students who pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration can select a concentration in Accounting. Pursuing an Accounting concentration with the Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration requires that 18 credit hours be earned in specific Accounting classes. Choose the Accounting concentration if you want to build skills that are relevant in almost any business setting. This concentration will provide you with an understanding of business finances, from general ledger, and account reconciliation to auditing, tax preparation, and planning.
Brad Smethurst ’16 CPA, Manager at PwC Canada; Accounting major and double minor in Information Systems and French; International Student; Member of Tennis TeamCatawba professors have such belief and confidence in their students that they will achieve amazing things. It’s hard for that not to rub off on you.
Program Details
Participate
Participate
Catawba College Accounting majors focused on a career in the world of business are encouraged to participate in the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), Future Business Leaders of America - Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), the Business Honor Society, or the National Society of Leadership and Success.
CPA-Ready Program
CPA-Ready Program
Accounting majors are well-prepared for CPA licensure thanks to Catawba’s CPA-Ready Program. Since candidates seeking CPA licensure in most states are required to have completed 150 semester hours of college credit, Catawba Accounting faculty provide individualized advising to Accounting majors to help assure the appropriate college credits are earned before graduation.
Congratulations to the recent alumni who have passed the CPA exam:
- Keenan D’Arcy '19
- Aly Helal '19
- Justin Potter '19
- Sarah Botts '20
Net Price Calculator
Net Price Calculator
Estimate your share of college costs and how much financial aid you may be eligible to receive
Our calculator is designed to give you an early indication of what type of financial aid you may qualify for if you were attending Catawba College as a first-year, transfer, online, or graduate student.
Outcomes
Outcomes
Careers - Accounting majors are prepared for the competitive employment landscape after earning their B.A. degree in Accounting from Catawba. Catawba College Accounting graduates are at work in these positions:
- Budget Analysts
- Cost Estimators
- Loan Officers
- Financial Analysts and Personal Financial Advisors
- Tax Examiners, Collectors, and Revenue Agents
- Bill and Account Collectors
- Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
Graduate Schools - Catawba Accounting majors are competitive and have been accepted to complete graduate programs of study at these institutions among others:
- Notre Dame
- College of William & Mary
- N.C. State University
- UNC - Chapel Hill
- University of Toronto
- UNC - Greensboro
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- UNC - Charlotte
- University of Virginia
After a national search, Imran Chowdhury, PhD has been selected as the next dean of Catawba College’s Ketner School of Business. He begins his new role on September 18th.
2023 Catawba College Awards Ceremony Honors Students, Faculty, and Staff for Achievement and Service
Catawba College held its annual Awards Convocation on Thursday, April 20 in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel. Dr. Constance Rogers-Lowery, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, thanked all of the award recipients who have demonstrated the qualities upon which Catawba College was founded: scholarship, character, culture, and service.
The newly established David B. Jordan Family Scholarship will ensure access for the next generation of high-achieving students with demonstrated financial need to the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business at Catawba College.
