Ernst and Young Fund for Excellence in Accounting Education 2024

It’s that time of year again — ASU matching gifts season! ASU is very important to each of us for many different reasons, which include great memories, educational experiences, and a network of wonderful relationships. Beyond its importance to each of us individually, ASU is also very important to EY overall, continuing to provide top talent for our firm.

Once a year we reach out to all of you and ask for your support in giving back to the school that gives us all so much. Our support is greatly needed and appreciated by the W. P. Carey School of Business, and it goes a long way in enhancing the EY brand on campus. Here’s a few highlights of our relationship with ASU this past year:
 
 

• EY has three representatives on the ASU School of Accountancy Professional Advisory Board, including EY’s Americas Director of Inclusiveness Recruiting, one Professional Practice audit partner, and one Phoenix audit partner.
• ASU has retired EY partners on their faculty. 
• Using the generous support already provided by EY, the School of Accountancy faculty are providing scholarships for community college students who transfer to the School of Accountancy at ASU, as well as for students from underrepresented backgrounds. These students are now in ASU’s accounting program, and we look to continue to support this pipeline into the profession.
• The School of Accountancy now has a local National Association for Black Accountants (NABA) chapter that will support more students who are part of their program. EY is working with ASU to best support this new initiative, including support from our Americas Director of Inclusiveness Recruiting, partnership with our Phoenix Black Professional Network, and overall financial support from this current and past Matching Gifts funds.
• ASU is expanding efforts to allow non-accounting undergraduate students (business or otherwise) to pursue a graduate degree in accounting. This “Pathway” provides students with the accounting training they need to succeed in the MACC or MTax program, and the ASU faculty is now developing programming to make this Pathway accessible to more students.
• The EY Excellence in Accounting fund has provided support to develop the initial launch and development of the MACC Bootcamp, which hosted 54 students this past summer and is in growing demand. ASU is collaborating with EY on this initiative, and EY funds from this current and past Matching Gift campaigns will help fund the program with opportunities for EY on-campus branding. More generally, this program will allow for more exposure to the profession and increase the talent pool.
• The School of Accountancy is pursuing new ways to increase the pipeline of students into the accounting profession, and recently launched an additional on-campus degree aimed at attracting business students who have an interest in accounting but who are less certain about what path they plan to pursue. The BA in Corporate Accounting, which was previously only offered online, now includes 112 on-campus students in addition to the 353 students pursuing the degree online.
• After plateauing in 2021 and 2022, ASU’s undergraduate accounting enrollment is now steadily growing thanks to these programs and support from partners like EY. In 2024, 943 students were enrolled in the BS in Accounting program, as compared to 824 in 2022.  
   
   
   

I want to personally thank those who have supported the university in the past and taken advantage of the Matching Gifts for Higher Education Program sponsored by the Ernst & Young Foundation, which doubles the impact of your gift.

I hope you will join me in supporting ASU through an increased contribution this year. Our contributions play an important part in giving EY additional brand impact on campus!

Brent Papek

ASU Campus Coordinating Partner