Surprise! Accounting is the Hot New Major
By: Donna Monday
There was a time when accounting was the boring college major that many people regretted signing up for. A constant barrage of numbers, statistics and spreadsheets was none too interesting.
Boy, have times changed! Thanks to recent accounting scandals by companies like Enron, there is a high demand for accountants and auditors.
According to the Job Outlook 2005 survey, accounting comes out on top as the most in-demand major on college campuses. Forget dot com start ups. Cleaning up a companys accounting books is whats in.
But can accounting be sexy?
All the focus on accounting created a perception to students that accounting matters and is perhaps even sexy, says Ira Solomon, head of the department of accountancy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Colleges are scrambling to find more accounting teachers and professors to replace those retiring. Not an easy task, since there are twice as many accounting faculty openings than applicants to fill them.
Here are the top 10 most in-demand college majors as surveyed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE):
- Accounting
- Electrical Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Business Administration/Management
- Economics/Finance
- Computer Science
- Computer Engineering
- Marketing/Marketing Management
- Chemical Engineering
- Information Sciences and Systems
If youre good with numbers and a stickler for details, you might want to consider accounting as a good career choice. However, youll probably have to take a number and wait in line behind all those other future accountant hopefuls.
This article was posted on November 18, 2004
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