AICPA Awards Scholarships to Minority Students

     This year there were 272 eligible applicants, a major increase from previous years. Scholarship recipients

 

 included students in both undergraduate and graduate accounting degree programs who maintained a

 

 minimum grade point average of 3.3.

 

     Adilene Mercado, an accounting major at the University of Washington in Seattle, said, "Being an AICPA

 

 scholarship recipient is an honor that will provide me with opportunities my parents never had. The

 

 scholarship is helping me live my dream of being the first in my family to go to college and, ultimately, to use

 

 my education to give back to my community."

 

     Rick Hernandez, a senior accounting major at the University of Connecticut, said, "To be honest, this

 

 scholarship means everything to me. My parents are trying their best to put me and my sister through college

 

 right now, which is no easy feat, so I try to do everything I can to help them. The scholarship helped pay for

 

 all of my books and most of my board for this semester."

 

Scholarship funding is provided by the AICPA Foundation, with contributions from the Accounting

 

 Education Foundation of the Texas Society of CPAs (TSCPA), the New Jersey Society of CPAs

 

 (NJSCPA), and Robert Half International. Each student receives an individual award ranging from $1,500

 

 to $3,000. 

 

     The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Scholarship for Minority Accounting

 

 Students. The scholarship program began in 1969, with the aim of increasing ethnic diversity in the CPA

 

 profession. Since the program's inception, the AICPA Foundation has awarded more than $14.6 million in

 

 scholarships to approximately 8,000 accounting students.

 

    The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, founded in 1887, is the world's largest association

 

 representing the accounting profession, with nearly 377,000 members in 128 countries. AICPA members

 

 represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education,

 

 and consulting. Membership is also available to accounting students and CPA candidates. The AICPA sets

 

 ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies; nonprofit

 

organizations; and federal, state, and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA

 

 Examination.