Dr Keith Howson is a former Dean of the Avondale College Faculty of Business, and is currently working at La Sierra University in California. He is an avid reader of the Avondale Business School blogs and Facebook page, and has sent us a snippet of what life is like studying business in the US:
This is now my second term of teaching here at La Sierra University and in this time I have come to see up close and personal the differences in accounting education between Australia and the United States:
- In the teaching of accounting, it is GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) which still dominate, rather than IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) which are relegated to an Appendix at the end of a textbook. Here at LaSU a special class exists just to study IFRS.
- Another key difference is how a student can take the CPA examination relatively quickly at the end of their university study whereas Australian students take them in sequence as laid out by the professional bodies as a post-graduate qualification.
- Many universities offer special CPA exam preparation classes which students can take while still in university.
- A requirement for our class in Ethics is that students must pass the Californian Licence examination in ethics.
If you would like to see the working conditions Keith has to endure, check out this site, and look for the number one spot.
Thanks Keith for your ongoing interest and support of ABS.