Thomas G. Noland

An Analysis of CPA Firm Recruiters' Perceptions of Online Masters of Accounting Degrees.

Online education continues to grow at a rapid pace. Assessment of the effectiveness of online programs is needed to differentiate legitimate programs from diploma mills. The authors examined the perceptions of CPA firm recruiters on whether an online Master of Accounting (MACC) matters in the hiring decision. Results show that recruiters do not perceive a difference in a candidate who receives an online MACC and a candidate who receives a MACC from a traditional classroom-based accounting program. Results also show that having passed all or part of the CPA exam or enrollment in a CPA review course are the most highly rated attributes of a new accounting graduate, bad communications skills are the lowest rated attributes, and both accounting GPA and overall GPA do matter to recruiters.