Carthage College Accounting Program: An Overview
Carthage College offers a comprehensive accounting program designed to equip students with both theoretical knowledge and practical experience. The program emphasizes a student-centered philosophy, ensuring that students not only study business theories but also gain real-world experience. This approach prepares graduates for successful careers in accounting and related fields.
A Student-Centered Approach to Accounting Education
At Carthage College, the accounting program prioritizes a student-centered philosophy. This means that students actively engage with the material and gain practical skills alongside theoretical knowledge. The curriculum is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of accounting principles while also fostering critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.
Real-World Experience and Industry-Standard Software
Every professor at Carthage brings business experience into the classroom. They achieve this through multiple real-world projects and simulations. Furthermore, the curriculum is embedded with industry-standard software, ensuring that students are proficient in the tools used by accounting professionals. This hands-on approach allows students to apply their knowledge in practical scenarios, making them well-prepared for the challenges of the profession.
CPA Exam Success
Carthage graduates have demonstrated a high level of success on the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) exam. Recent graduates placed in the top 6 percent nationwide among first-time takers of the exam. This impressive performance reflects the quality of the accounting program and the dedication of its faculty.
Advanced Technology for Presentation Skills
The A. W. Clausen Center for World Business provides students with advanced technology to sharpen their presentation skills. Effective communication is crucial in the accounting profession, and Carthage recognizes the importance of developing this skill. The center's resources enable students to practice and refine their presentation abilities, giving them a competitive edge in the job market.
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Resources for Student Involvement and Career Preparation
The Accounting Department offers various resources to get students involved and prepare for their future careers. These resources include student organizations, internships, and networking opportunities. By actively participating in these activities, students can enhance their skills, build their professional networks, and gain valuable experience.
Student Organizations
Several student organizations are popular with accounting majors at Carthage College. These organizations provide opportunities for students to connect with their peers, develop their leadership skills, and engage in community service.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) service-learning course provides students with the opportunity to acquire, certify, and apply tax preparation skills while serving low/moderate taxpayers in the Greater Kenosha community.
Enactus
Enactus is a global collegiate organization that focuses on entrepreneurial-based projects that work to transform opportunities into sustainable progress for themselves and their communities.
Velocity Consulting
Velocity Consulting is the first 100 percent student-run, full-service consulting firm. The company specializes in providing students at Carthage with the ability to gain real-world experience in business without having to leave the College. Established in 2009, Velocity Consulting offers students a unique opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills in a professional setting.
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Finance and Investment Club (FIC)
The Finance and Investment Club is an organization on campus for students who are interested in finance. Meetings involve discussion of different finance topics at a deeper level and gaining knowledge about stocks.
Model United Nations (MUN)
Model United Nations is an organization for students interested in international politics, cross-cultural relations, and political debate. Model UN hosts on-campus events and attends national and international conferences each year.
Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE)
Pi Sigma Epsilon is the only national co-ed professional business fraternity that focuses on sales, marketing, and management. The fraternity is open to all majors, giving students the opportunity to get hands-on experience at conferences and through learning opportunities and networking events.
The Front Office
The Front Office is a sports management organization that works to discuss business in the sports world.
Internships and Career Opportunities
A large number of accounting students secure internships, which often lead to offers for full-time positions after graduation. Carthage's strong relationships with local and national companies provide students with access to a wide range of internship opportunities. These internships allow students to gain valuable practical experience and make connections in the industry.
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Carthage is one of Deloitte’s core partner schools, providing early access to recruiting events. This partnership gives Carthage students a significant advantage in the competitive job market.
Business Scholarship Competition
Incoming students can enter the Business Scholarship Competition, competing for one of two full-tuition scholarships awarded to incoming students. These scholarships are awarded to students who demonstrate ability in business and are renewable for four years. This competition provides an opportunity for talented students to receive financial support for their education.
Available Degrees
The Carthage College Accounting Program offers bachelor's degrees (B.A. or B.S.) in accounting. These degrees provide students with a solid foundation in accounting principles and prepare them for a variety of career paths.
Carthage College Accounting Program Ranking
The Carthage College Accounting Program is a high-quality program that is well-regarded in the field. While specific rankings may vary depending on the source and criteria used, Carthage consistently performs well compared to other schools with accounting programs.
Earnings of Accounting Graduates
The median salary of accounting students who receive their bachelor's degree at Carthage is $61,887. This figure demonstrates the value of a Carthage accounting degree in the job market.
Student Demographics
Of the 23 students who earned a bachelor's degree in Accounting from Carthage in 2021-2022, 70% were men and 30% were women. The majority of bachelor's degree recipients in this major at Carthage are white.
Tuition and Fees
During the 2022-2023 academic year, part-time undergraduate students at Carthage paid an average of $900 per credit hour. The following table shows the average full-time tuition and fees for undergraduates.
| In State | Out of State | |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $36,500 | $36,500 |
| Books and Supplies | $1,200 | $1,200 |
| On-Campus Room and Board | $12,950 | $12,950 |
| On-Campus Other Expenses | $2,400 | $2,400 |
Accounting Courses Offered
The Accounting Department offers a variety of courses designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of accounting principles and practices. Some accounting majors and minors require courses offered by other departments.
ACC 2000: Introduction to Accounting
This course combines relevant portions of ACC 2010 and 2020 to provide a comprehensive introduction to accounting concepts, financial statements, and the usage of accounting information for decision making. The emphasis is on the application of financial data in the business world for planning, performance evaluation, and tactical decision-making. Topics include financial ratio analysis, evaluation of capital investments, cost-volume profit analysis, inventory valuation, and make vs. buy analysis.
ACC 2010: Accounting Principles I
An analysis of accounting, the language of business.
ACC 2020: Accounting Principles II
This course is focused on the objective of providing managers and other internal users in an organization with information that improves decision-making and creates organizational value. Foundational concepts include the development of costs of products/ services for inventory valuation and profit computation as well as understanding cost behavior. Those functional concepts are then applied using critical thinking and analytical skills to three major activities of managers: planning, performance evaluation, and tactical decision-making. Methods and approaches that students will learn in those three areas of activity include (but are not limited to): budgeting| cost-volume-profit analysis| variance analysis, including identification of corrective action to improve performance| various differential analysis techniques, including make vs. This course focuses on the information developed and used internally within a business organization to effectively manage its operation. It deals with using information about the behavior of its costs to make good management decisions. It covers the development of a profit plan for the organization’s operations and the use of that same information to develop product/service costs. It includes analytical approaches to measuring performance and taking corrective action, as well as alternative approaches to valuing work-in-process inventory. The course also incorporates the theory of constraints where appropriate. This course focuses on the compilation and analysis of accounting information and the procedures involved in determining the cost of various cost objects, such as the products or services sold to customers, and the importance and relevance of this information in making the short-term and long-term decisions involved in managing an entity.
ACC 3010: Intermediate Accounting I
A comprehensive, in-depth, analytical, and interpretive study of alternative accounting procedures for communicating financial and economic information, supported by critical evaluations of current issues and reporting practices.
ACC 3020: Intermediate Accounting II
A comprehensive, in-depth, analytical, and interpretive study of alternative accounting procedures for communicating financial and economic information, supported by critical evaluations of current issues and reporting practices.
ACC 3060: Federal Income Tax I
A study of federal income taxation of individuals focused on tax theory and policy, laws, and related authoritative sources.
ACC 3090: Federal Income Tax II
A study of federal income taxation of business entities focused on tax theory and policy, laws, and related authoritative sources. Practical applications of tax laws are stressed through preparation of frequently encountered forms and use of research materials applied to tax-planning scenarios.
ACC 3250: Accounting Information Systems
The course will provide an in-depth study of the role of computer-based accounting systems to create meaningful information for economic decisions.
ACC 3350: Data Analytics for Accounting
This course is concerned with developing students’ analytical mindsets and skills. It focuses on the data analysis process, which transforms raw data into useful information for decision-making through interpretation and communication of the results to stakeholders.
ACC 4020: Auditing
Principles, standards, and procedures involved in the independent examination and analysis of financial statements prepared for management and the general public. Concepts of ethical and social responsibilities are explored.
ACC 4040: Managerial Cost Accounting
This course covers managerial accounting and cost management practices that can be strategically applied across a business to improve organizational performance. The course emphasizes the methods available to measure and evaluate costs for decision-making and performance evaluation purposes. In this course students employ modern portfolio theory to analyze securities using technical and fundamental analyses, for individual equity securities, and in the context of a diversified portfolio.
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