The fact that the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs in the Culverhouse School of Accountancy are all ranked in the top 25 does not surprise Karl Stingily.
When Stingily, vice president of internal audit for FedEx, was working on his bachelor's degree in accounting in the late 1970s, he said, the school always ranked in the top 20 nationally.
"It seems like every year since then we've ranked highly," Stingily said.
For 2007, Public Accounting Report, a trade publication for public accountants, ranked the undergraduate program as No. 15 nationally, the graduate program at No. 21 and the doctoral program at No. 25.
The University of Texas at Austin ranked No. 1 in all three categories, and the University of Georgia and the University of Florida ranked ahead of the Capstone.
J. Barry Mason, dean of the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, said it is unusual to see all three programs ranked, but there are many benefits.
Companies want to recruit UA students to come work for their companies, better students want to attend the University and alumni are more willing to invest in a strong program, Mason said.
By bringing those three elements together, Mason said, they have a winning program.
"Ultimately students are the beneficiaries, and the faculty enjoy working with such great students," he said.
Mary Stone, head of the accounting department, said the rankings recognize the work that the accounting faculty members put into the department to prepare the students.
"The rankings are some recognition that we're helping to give the students an education to succeed as professional accountants," Stone said.
Once the students become alumni like Stingily, Stone said they keep in touch with them to get input to help shape the accounting curriculum.
She said they will be incorporating topics such as fair value measurement into the curriculum, which helps with the housing market crisis, and the U.S. accounting standards, which are starting to converge with international accounting standards.
The school of accountancy has been fortunate to attract experienced faculty members to help the program, Stone said.
She also said there is a full-time adviser who helps accounting students set up their schedules from day one through all four years of college to make sure that they graduate on time.
Stone said attracting strong students for the undergraduate program serves as a pipeline, because many of them stay as graduate students.
"You want to get good undergraduates," she said. "Then when people go out to work as accountants, you always tell them to keep in touch."
Stingily said he has kept in touch with Stone and other accounting faculty members since his graduation in 1980. His first job was as a staff auditor for the Arthur Anderson accounting firm.
He said he was incredibly well prepared for his first job, and still is for his job with FedEx.
"The background I received has played a significant role in the path I've taken," Stingily said. "I attribute a lot to what has happened to the preparation as an undergrad."
Accounting program rankings
-Undergraduate program ranked No. 15.
-Graduate program ranked No. 21.
-Doctoral program ranked No. 25.
-University of Texas at Austin ranked No. 1 in all three categories.
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