The Washington CPA Foundation Board met for a daylong retreat in early September to discuss issues affecting the profession and Foundation as well as to identify strategic issues moving forward, including updating the Foundation’s purpose statement. Much has changed since the Foundation adopted its previous mission statement in 2009, before the Senate Bill legislation (Bill #5534) that ensured $3.3 million would be set aside to fund accounting scholarships for at least 15 years.

We also have tremendous support from local firms for named scholarships, and with their added contributions, we were able to award $360,000 in scholarships to 72 students last year. This year, our Foundation continues diversity pipeline initiatives by also awarding $20,000 in grants to two local colleges, South Puget Sound Community College and Western Washington University, to support diversity initiatives for accounting students. Below, you’ll find the new Washington CPA Foundation Purpose Statement and Strategy, as well as scholarship changes coming this year.

WASHINGTON CPA FOUNDATION PURPOSE STATEMENT

Considering the profession’s current rate of change and the many changes anticipated in the future, the Foundation Board identified two general themes to guide the Foundation’s strategic future, which are investing and advancing.

Washington CPA Foundation Purpose Statement: To strengthen and expand the profession by advancing and investing in the accounting profession.

• Investing in our accounting community through initiatives that promote awareness and access to the CPA profession.
• Advancing the CPA profession through purposeful relationships that engage the talent, expertise, and passion of the accounting community.

INCREASING AWARD AMOUNTS FOR MASTER'S AND PHD STUDENTS

Although the Foundation’s $5,000 scholarships are substantial, tuition costs—particularly for master’s degrees—continue to rise at an alarming rate. To support even more students with the resources they need to meet the Uniform CPA exam requirements and encourage more future CPAs to pursue advanced degrees, the Foundation has approved variable scholarship increases for master’s and PhD students. They are now eligible to receive scholarships between $5,000 and $8,000.

CHANGE IN LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION REQUIREMENTS

As the Foundation steadily continues to increase scholarship awards in the coming years, we also strive to increase the awareness of our scholarships and encourage even more students to apply. After eliciting feedback from our scholarship reviewers, the Foundation decided to trim down the letter of recommendation requirement from two references to one.

That recommendation must be on letterhead from a professor/educator, supervisor, mentor, or licensed CPA. We believe this change will eliminate some barriers for students across all demographics. We also hope that this change will be more efficient for our brave scholarship reviewers who volunteer their time during tax season, and we also suspect our state’s higher learning educators will be fans of this requirement change.

Monette Anderson is the Manager of Student Initiatives for the WSCPA. You can contact her at manderson@wscpa.org or 425.586.1118.

This article appears in the fall 2018 issue of the WashingtonCPA Magazine. Read more here.

Could You Use $5,000 to Help Pay for Your Accounting Degree?

The Washington CPA Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2019-2020 academic year in September, awarding over 70 scholarships at $5,000 each! Learn more about the scholarship eligibility requirements and application process.

New this year! Master's and PhD scholarship applicants are eligible to receive a scholarship award of up to $8,000.