The Ph.D. Program in Accounting at FAU is designed to prepare students for a career in university teaching and research.  The program can be completed in four years on a full time basis. Typically, you can expect three years to complete coursework and related requirements, and one year to complete the dissertation. Of course, individuals vary and the time to complete the degree can be longer in certain cases.

The program at FAU includes extensive research, writing, and mandatory attendance at research workshops.   Students will take at least four seminars in accounting plus select a minor area concentration (finance, economics, etc.) 

Typically, a person pursues a Ph.D. because they wish to conduct research and to teach at an accredited university, leading to tenure. Teaching loads vary from one class per semester to three or four, depending on the research and service responsibilities at their university.  For most, research is a very rewarding part of an academic career.

Working as a faculty member affords a considerable amount of flexibility. While there are certainly constraints including scheduled class times, office hours, and faculty meetings, much of a faculty member’s work can be done at the place and time of the faculty member’s choosing.  Faculty members generally have a great deal of autonomy. They work in a place where ideas and intellectual curiosity are appreciated. Colleagues are bright. It is rewarding to be in an environment with young people interested in learning.

While it is possible to teach without a doctoral degree, the salary levels for adjunct faculty and instructors are significantly lower than for full time doctoral faculty.  Instructors with a master’s degree who are fortunate enough to teach full time at a university will often be expected to teach four classes per semester and they are generally are not eligible for tenure.  Instructors’ salaries are about one-third the salary of full-time, tenure-track faculty with doctoral degrees.

When considering a doctoral program, students may wish to consider financial support available, placement of graduates, geographic location, reputation of the faculty, the type and quality of research that faculty produce, and the percentage of students who end up completing the program.  There are approximately 80 universities in the U.S. that grant doctoral degrees in accounting.  Some of these schools only admit candidates every other year. 

Students who are interested in a career as a university teacher and researcher may consider reviewing the Online Hasselback Directory of Accounting Faculty. The directory (though a bit dated) is useful guide to which schools hire graduates of certain programs.  For example, if a student wanted to teach at Harvard University, the student should see where Harvard University faculty obtained their doctoral degrees. 

A Ph.D. program prepares students to conduct academic research.  Accounting research is very diverse and there are different areas of specialty. For example, researchers have investigated how accounting information affects security prices, how auditing affects the quality of financial reports, how legal systems affect the degree of conservatism in accounting, the effect of traditional versus activity-based costing systems on management pricing and product mix decisions, whether accounting data is useful in bankruptcy predictions, whether non-audit services impair auditor independence, how different management incentive packages affect their choice of accounting alternatives. The list is endless, and involves the application of theories from finance, economics, psychology, etc.

Students who are unfamiliar with academic accounting research may consider reviewing journals such as The Accounting Review, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, or the Journal of Accounting Research.  These journals can typically be found in university library databases such as ABI Inform, JSTORE, ProQuest, and Ingenta.  Another web page that provides insight into a research in accounting is the Social Science Accounting Research Network.  

FAU has some excellent databases useful for conducting research. Most of these are available through the WRDS system (http://wrds.wharton.upenn.edu/demo/index.shtml).

Accounting faculty salaries depend on a variety of factors.  Faculty of schools that emphasize research will generally receive higher salaries than faculty of schools that don’t emphasize research.  Flagship state schools generally pay more than regional schools. Recent salary information for university business faculty is conducted annual by the AACSB. 

The American Accounting Association lists Placement postings on its web pages. Some universities do not post advertisements at the AAA so this list is not complete.  Some universities advertise through The Accounting Review, the Social Science Accounting Research Network, or the Chronicle of Higher Education.

What are the admission requirements at FAU?

Admission to the doctoral program is competitive.  There are usually 2-3 positions per year and candidates should plan to start in the fall. An applicant should have a GMAT score of at least 600 and a GPA of at least 3.5 out of 4.0 during the last 60 credits of course work. An undergraduate or graduate degree in accounting is also expected.  Applicants who do not have the graduate degree in accounting would normally be expected to have a graduate degree in some business area. Those without a graduate degree will be required to earn the equivalent of a masters degree (30 credits) in addition to the requirements for the doctoral degree. Exceptions to these guidelines may be made in special cases.

Scholarships from other organizations may be available:

Deloitte & Touche Doctoral Fellowships

McKnight Fellowship for African Americans studying at participating Florida Universities

KPMG Foundation PhD Project for African-American, Hispanic-American, and Native Americans

AICPA minority fellowships

EFWA (Educational Foundation for Women in Accounting) doctoral scholarships