Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Accountants And Auditors
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at University of Washington - Tacoma, Washington State University, University of Washington Seattle, and Eastern Washington University.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Gonzaga, University of Washington - Tacoma, Eastern Washington University, and Northwest University.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Heritage, City University of Seattle, Seattle University, and Saint Martin's University.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider City University of Seattle, Lower Columbia, Heritage, and University of Washington - Tacoma.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Gonzaga, Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University, and Whitworth University.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Northwest University, Saint Martin's University, Seattle Pacific University, and Whitworth University.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at University of Washington Seattle, Whitworth University, Gonzaga, and Seattle University.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Whitworth University.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Gonzaga, Saint Martin's University, Seattle University, and Seattle Pacific University.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Lake WA Tech College • Kirkland, WA
Studying Accounting (completion in 2008)
• 7/23/2011
"Overall, I was relatively satisfied with my school. While I think the school and especially the accounting program could use some improvements, it was still a great experience and I do feel that it prepared me for accounting in the real world."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would definitely recommend my school to someone pursuing a 2-year accounting degree! If someone were looking to obtain a 4-year degree, I then would suggest they go to a community college, as those credits are much easier to transfer to 4-year schools, but if the individual was likely to end their accounting education with an Associate's Degree, I think LWTC would be a great place to go! |
| Program Reputation | 5 | I would say the school's reputation is about average. I think that this area gives it a good reputation, however the fact that it is a technical college lowers the reputation a bit, due to the public's perception of technical colleges. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The accounting program at LWTC was relatively good, however they frequently would cancel classes because they wouldn't have teachers there to teach them, or a teacher would start and work there for one quarter and then quit. It was also frustrating that some courses were only offered one quarter out of the entire school year and only at one hour of the day, so it made it hard to have a life unless you had enormous flexibility. |
| Instruction | 9 | I was really pleased with the quality and level of the instruction. One of the main instructors, Neal, taught many of the courses and he had a great deal of experience and taught us both what was in the text book AND what was out in the real world. |
| How Difficult | 6 | While accounting is without a doubt a challenging area of study, I found it to be only mildly challenging at times. That being said, not to sound conceited, but there was a large portion of the class that struggled to the point of tears with the degree of difficultly the courses presented...I was grateful to be a quick learner. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The program itself was definitely a mix and I think this mix was dependent upon the teacher itself. Some of my teachers tried to use both book-learning and hands-on learning, but there were others who strictly stuck to one learning method (much to the complaint of students). | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 1 | As mentioned above, the options were terrible. Some classes were only offered once a year, others were offered each quarter, but only at one time. The schedule left little wiggle room. If you wanted to graduate within 2 years, you had to sacrifice anything you had going on. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | Admittedly, I did not need to meet with an adviser, or tutors or study groups, so I cannot say for sure to what degree they were available. I did, however, use the computer lab and library and I found them satisfactory. |
| Social Life | 7 | I think our school spirit is above average. My personal experience was fantastic, as my work-study position was in the Associated Student Government, so I participated in all social activities and planning and went to student conferences as a school representative. It was a great social experience. |
| Placement Services | 2 | I was not offered, nor did I receive, any career service assistance or job placement upon graduating. The accounting instructor I refer to above did help me get a work study position at the school while I was still a student, however, and I really appreciated that! |
| Alumni Network | 6 | As I mentioned above, they did not have enough staff, ever. There was so few staff that worked consistently that the one member of the staff that did work there consistently and long-term had limited hours each week to help students and offer support. |
American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants • Seattle, WA
Studying Finance (completion in 2011)
• 8/2/2011
"Overall the institute has helped me achieve the standards I am looking to achieve. It provides a platform to enhance your education."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | For those who respect high standards of professionalism, this institute will help attain that. Also, if you love numbers, this is the profession. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | It is the highest institute for education in this field. It has licensing requirements that protects the ethics of this profession. |
| Program Quality | 9 | This is the highest degree in accountancy and this institute maintains the highest standards of professionalism in controlling certified professionals. |
| Instruction | 10 | The curriculum is up to date and undergoes frequent revision based on the review of practicing CPAs. There are also journals and reference materials which provide guidance on topics. |
| How Difficult | 7 | It requires a grade of 75% to pass and the scoring pattern is weighted based. Also, the syllabus covers a vast amount of regulatory pronouncements in which the students have to be well versed. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It is a mix. Some topics are related to real world usage and are vocational. There are also topics that are very theory based. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | You can fit studying into your work schedule. Also, there are convenient online classes that can be saved and watched later. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | The online library has a wide selection of books. It also has books in related fields that can be used as references. Also, you can buy the books from suggested authors. |
| Social Life | 2 | Given the high level of flexibility (online classes), there is not much socializing. You don't meet many people except when you join online forums. |
| Placement Services | 6 | The institute provides guidance for job searching. There is no campus placement facility, though. |
| Alumni Network | 9 | There is research material and online guidance available. They also have simulated test questions to give experience of sample tests. |
South Seattle Community College • Seattle, WA
Studying Accounting (completion in 2005)
• 8/19/2011
"I am successfully employed as an auditor now, and can only attribute that to the education I received at SSCC. I feel I got the training I needed as well as resume preparation help when I was seeking work."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend this school for a degree in accounting. The tuition is average, if not less than average, and it is not a large campus. It is also very flexible. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | I have heard of only good ratings for this particular program. For some reason, though, a lot of students that go into accounting drop out and do not finish their degree. This could be because they are not getting the help outside the classroom that they need. |
| Program Quality | 9 | Some of my education I could complete at home, allowing me to still work and get my training. The cost to complete my training and earn my degree was average. |
| Instruction | 8 | I wished at times there was more covered in classes. When studying online at home you cannot always get a quick response if you need help. In class instruction was good and covered a lot more because it was interactive. I was qualified to work as an accountant, bookkeeper, and an auditor, so I had several choices when seeking work. |
| How Difficult | 5 | It was moderately difficult for me as I did not have excellent math skills prior to these classes and had to work pretty hard at it. I did not have many issues with having a large workload, though. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Everything was by the book. You can work out problems, but there was nothing outside the classroom (except for online courses). There were no internships, etc. for my program (that I knew of). | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | One can take both online and on campus classes. Online classes can be done in the evenings and on weekends, which is really good. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | It is hard to always reach an instructor when you are doing online classes. Instant messaging would have been great. Phone calls were not returned in time to help. Resources were readily available and I did not have to look off campus for any materials. There were extensive online recourses, too. |
| Social Life | 5 | I really cannot comment on social experiences at this school. I did not participate in any. I wasn't really encouraged to and we don't have a huge athletics department. Students set up events on their own events. |
| Placement Services | 3 | None to speak of, although they make an effort to find open positions and make recommendations. They help with resume preparation. It is better to be very prepared to do your own job hunting. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | It's okay. I would have liked to have my questions answered more in depth and I would've also liked more time taken individually with me when I had questions, even about financial aid. |
Central Washington University • Ellensburg, WA
Studying Law & Justice (completion in 1997)
• 9/22/2011
"In the end, it got the job done. It allowed me to acquire a job as a Special Agent working in the Financial Investigations Unit of a state agency where I have gained years of amazing work experience conducting comprehensive source-of-funds investigations and audits."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | |
| Program Reputation | 9 | With regard to the Law & Justice program, CWU has a very high reputation in the state. As far as accounting and auditing classes, I took my courses at a variety of schools both during my time at CWU, as well as after graduation. |
| Program Quality | 7 | I was somewhat satisfied with my school. However, by the time I reached my senior year I realized how easy college really was. It wasn't challenging enough looking back. I have learned so much more in actual work experience. |
| Instruction | 6 | There were some extremely qualified professors who took a very serious approach to teaching. However, there were many more who simply read from the text and provided no insight or professional experiences. |
| How Difficult | 3 | There were times during my college career when I felt that classes were so easy that I could have succeeded in the class without even purchasing the text. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I would say it was a good mix and really depended on the individual instructor. Some were very hands-on and actually had projects where students could enter individual journal entries for the duration of the semester and the finish the class by conducting the closing entries. Unfortunately, there were some instructors who simply have students listen to lectures and complete simplistic work papers. No real world experience. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | I always seemed to find my class choices when I needed them. I never had any difficulties in this area. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The school had very good facilities. State of the art resources. I never felt as though I was missing any available resources. |
| Social Life | 10 | CWU was a fantastic school with regard to social activities. When I was enrolled the football team won a National Championship, school spirit was high and the social scene was extremely active. |
| Placement Services | 2 | I would rate my school as poor in this area as I did not receive any assistance. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | Since graduating I really have not had much involvement with the Alumni Association. I marked this answer with a 5 because I am unsure. |
Gonzaga University • Spokane, WA
Studying Accounting (completion in 2014)
• 3/23/2012
"I was very happy at Gonzaga and believe I got a quality education. I recommend Gonzaga to students with similar career goals. There are some programs I would recommend other schools over, but not business, for the most part."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I have recommended Gonzaga to others looking to pursue a degree in Business or several other career options. I do not necessarily recommend Gonzaga to all students, as it depends on their intended field of study. For business school, it is an excellent option. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | Gonzaga has a good School of Business. It is not necessarily world recognized but it is a solid school of business. There are probably better accounting programs out there, but they are a top program in our area. |
| Program Quality | 9 | Gonzaga has an excellent School of Business. The professors are high quality and class size is relatively small. |
| Instruction | 9 | The curriculum at Gonzaga prepares students for what they will see in the outside world. The instructors are very pragmatic and teach to real world scenarios drawing on their own experiences as accounting professionals. |
| How Difficult | 5 | Accounting is not an easy area of study. However, it was no more difficult than it would be elsewhere. If you are going into this field, you must be prepared for the workload. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | This may have changed since I was a student, but there were very few classes where we had labs in the School of Business. Most of the learning is done with books, rather than through a hands on approach. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | Gonzaga is a school with a high percentage of traditional students. The courses are primarily designed for traditional (straight out of high school, full time) students. For graduate programs, the school is more flexible. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The School of Business building has been built since I graduated, and it is a beautiful facility. Gonzaga requires all professors have posted and maintained office hours. Going to see a professor was not ever an issue, whether it be a School of Business professor, or a core curriculum professor. |
| Social Life | 8 | Gonzaga has good school spirit and fun activities. Again, this is a school designed around a traditional student, and the activities and events meet their needs quite well. |
| Placement Services | I am unable to rate the services because I have not attempted to use them. As a student, the career center was helpful. | |
| Alumni Network | I am unable to rate the services because I have not attempted to use them. As a student, the career center was helpful. My lack of a rating is on me, not on the program. |
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