Welcome

Welcome from the Accounting Area Coordinator

Greetings from the accounting area at The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine! The accounting area has continued to thrive during the 2020-2021 academic year. MPAc: In June 2021, our MPAc program celebrated its eighth graduating class. Our graduates continue to grow our international presence, with students from 13 countries, including China, India, Mexico, and Pakistan. With a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, we are proud to have 20% of our domestic students from under-represented groups. We offer several student-oriented programs to ensure student success: • The MPAc Mentorship Program provides our current MPAc students with support and guidance to nurture academic development and professional advancement. Student mentees receive advice and guidance about classes, professors, coursework, and study habits. Alumni mentors have the opportunity to give back to current MPAc students and build their network and ties to the UCI community. • The UCI MPAc Pathway Program is a new partnership with

Santiago Canyon College to help students interested in pursuing accounting careers by offering a pathway to our

MPAc program for community college transfer students. • Last year also marked the second time one of our MPAc students has been awarded the PCAOB Professional

Scholarship. Congratulations Jose Ocampo BA ’21, MPAc ’23! • In recognition of demand for ESG-related content and skillset development, the program is launching its first ever sustainability accounting course in Spring 2022 and hopes to launch a full ESG track in Fall 2023. Our MPAc program continues to launch students into successful accounting careers, with over 95% job placement within six months after graduation. Last year’s graduates have landed jobs at all of the Big 4 accounting firms, major regional accounting firms, smaller local accounting firms, as well as major corporations. Undergraduate Program: In the fall of 2021, the Merage School welcomed its 15th class to the BA in Business Administration. Business Administration is the third most requested major at the freshman level, and is the first most requested major at the transfer level. Our school continues to draw some of the brightest and most diverse students in the UC system. • Incoming freshmen have a mean GPA of 4.15. • 39% of domestic freshmen come from under-represented minority groups. • 40% of incoming students are first-generation college students. PhD Program: Our world-class faculty train our PhD students for successful and productive careers as faculty at leading research-oriented schools around the world. During 2020-2021, our PhD graduates joined the faculty ranks at UT Austin, Singapore Management University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Shenzen. One notable student, Il Sun Yoo, was named recipient of the 2022 Deloitte Foundation Doctoral Fellowship. The Deloitte Foundation awards 10 such fellowships each year from over 60 to 70 applications per year. With a full array of academic programs, the accounting area is continuously expanding and innovating our course offerings. We are pleased that our programs are well respected by students, our peer schools, and accounting industry professionals. We look forward to another great year ahead, and hope to keep in touch with our alumni and friends.