It has been mentioned to me that for all businessy type majors, AACSB accredited programs should be sought out. Makes sense, but they are all larger schools. Can anyone help me understand whether the lack of accreditation would be reason to rule out smaller schools or LACs without such accreditation or whether a student can do equally well in terms of education, internships or employment at a smaller school. The student in question is personally much better suited to a small school than a big university. Thoughts and suggestions gratefully received!
There are too many AACSB choices to select a school without the accreditation, in my view. Smaller schools in our search area with accreditation: Bucknell (LAC), U Richmond (LAC), Lehigh, TCNJ, Rider, Seton Hall, Susquehanna. If accounting is the subject, I doubt if any big 4 firm recruits from a non accredited program.
Thank you. Do you know anything about Susquehanna? Interested in Rider, as well, but didn’t see it on AACSB list.
@zoosermom you would be smart to look at St. Bonaventure. It is AACSB accredited and is well known for placing kids in great accounting jobs especially in the NY/Boston area. It is probably one of the smallest schools to have that accreditation which tells you something about the quality of the program.
I have seen the new business center and it is nicer than the facilities at much bigger schools.
You mentioned other schools that usually admit B type students but St. Bonaventure is a much better school for accounting than those.
My oldest just got his Masters in Acctg from Rider. It is AACSB accredited. We know kids who attend Susquehanna and like it very much. Although I have not visited, I’d probably choose SU over Rider for overall undergraduate experience. For some reason, Rider seems like more of a commuter school than I would have guessed. Of the 3 mentioned here, TCNJ is my youngest son’s favorite.
Rider is AACSB accredited for both business and accounting. Not all AACSB schools are accredited for accounting.
Thank you so very much! You are all so helpful. St. Bonaventure is definitely on the list, his only concern about that is how to get from NYC to there easily. We have to look into it.
Edited to add:
He is currently looking at
Canisius, St. Bonaventure, Susquehanna, Rowan, Seton Hall, Elizabethtown
Possibly Montclair State, Sacred Heart and a SUNY (but Oneonta and New Paltz hate his school for some reason, so we’re not sure).
Lots of kids from NNJ and the five boroughs go to St. Bonaventure. It should not be hard getting back and forth. Kids post rides and they tend to go back and forth from all schools as a group for years.
He will have a nice experience there and the campus is very pretty and very safe.
Nice group of kids go there. Bright kids. It is a nice package and a great value.
Thank you WinterParents. Glad to hear all that good stuff.
Have you been to all the schools?
It’s a boy!
If you haven’t been to St. Bonaventure yet the kids are rather clean cut, well dressed kids. I really enjoyed spending time with them. Nowadays on campuses you wonder about some of them.
Rowan just broke ground on their new business building, but it’s not scheduled to open for 2 years.
Monmouth is another one in NJ that is AACSB.
Elizabethtown is ACBSP accredited, nice school but we thought it was too small.
St Joe’s in Philadelphia is another good school, too.
Please accept my sincere thanks. You have been so helpful. This is outside my range completely. This kid is a serious musician who has decided that he doesn’t have enough personality to either perform or teach music for a living. Fair enough. But now I’m at a loss and I am so grateful for your help!
Perhaps consider University of Scranton and Siena College as well.
And just so you are forewarned, to be a CPA most states now require 150 credits which for most kids entails going for a one year grad program. It is still a great and employable field (my S just got his CPA license and is working) but it may be helpful to have that on your radar.
I generally agree with the accreditation benefit, but I can’t ignore my son’s former soccer teammate. A bright kid, a very good student. Choked a bit on the SAT’s, limiting his options. He went to Rutgers-Camden, graduating in 2012. Absolutely kicked butt in accounting. A leader on the soccer team and in the classroom. Interned, then hired at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Doing great.
I’ve recruited accountants for 25 years, including Big 4 when there were 8 of 'em. They look for attitude as much as know-how. A sense of command, and the ability to tell someone to go to he** while leaving the target laughing. He’s got it, as well as a terrific work ethic. He also had a great narrative on “rallying from adversity” to relate during the interview.
LaSalle should be on the list. St. Joe’s and Rider, too. They have decades-old reps for accountants and business grads. TCNJ, Rowan (it’s a comer), Seton Hall off the top of my head.
Besides the costs, bear in mind that a grad is most likely to start their career near the college. So make that part of the decision.
Not sure if the cost of Lehigh (I’ll include Drexel in that) makes it a greater value for that major than the above schools. I like Susquehanna, but it’s a classic safety school.
There’s a heck of a lot of difference in “feel” between places like (a) Rowan and Montclair State (large public suburban commuter schools), (b) Elizabethtown and Susquehanna (tiny, rural privates), © St. Bonaventure (small, rural Catholic), (d) Scranton, Canisius, Seton Hall (mid-sized Catholics in gritty small cities), and (e) St. Joe’s or LaSalle (larger Catholic universities in gritty neighborhoods of a big city). Their accounting-program academics are probably interchangeable, or close to it, but the schools themselves will feel really different.
JHS, you’re absolutely right about the differences in feel. My sense is that he would be happier at a small school, but we’ve only visited one college so far and the visit was a debacle for weather reasons. But he is a little on the weird side, so I want to have an array of choices for him to consider and not steer him in any particular direction other than what our budget is – which we have communicated to him clearly and with spreadsheets!