Ernst & Young Offers Specialized Masters Program through UVA and Notre
Dame
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Apr 4, 2001--Despite a sluggish economy, college graduates appear to still have choices. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, companies across the nation anticipate extending to new college grads some 19 percent
of their job offers, even though the economy is slowing. This fact only intensifies a critical challenge facing Ernst & Young - while the need for talented and trained employees was soaring in recent years, the number of accounting graduates had plummeted more than 22 percent in only five years.
Your Master Plan serves as an example of how companies are addressing the skills shortage and finding ways to recruit and retain the best employees. Ernst & Young partnered with the University of Virginia and the University of Notre Dame to create Your Master Plan, which gives business graduates an opportunity to earn a Master of Science degree in accounting while they work at Ernst & Young. The program benefits both the students and Ernst & Young; students can jump-start their career and get solid accounting experience, while
Ernst & Young gets trained and dedicated employees.
Throughout the program, Ernst & Young professionals serve as guest speakers and make presentations on selected topics at the schools. The program is delivered in two intense summers and includes two distance-learning courses during the nine months between summers. Students become Ernst & Young employees at the beginning of the first summer and are assigned to spend each summer studying full-time.
The program at the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and the College of Business Administration at the University of Notre Dame began with 50 students at each university the first year, and has expanded steadily over the past three years. The 272 members of the first two classes are now full-time employees, and Ernst & Young expects to sign up 200 for this year`s class alone. The program has been so successful that the firm is planning to expand it globally.
Other ways in which Your Master Plan succeeds include:
- Attempting to offset the decrease in supply of accounting majors by converting non-accounting majors to accounting; 80 percent of the students are non-accounting majors.
- Providing an excellent educational opportunity at low cost for a diverse group of students. As an extension of Ernst & Young`s minority scholarship program, 22 percent of the students in the initial two classes were Asian, Black or Hispanic. Ernst & Young provides free tuition, room and board, books, and a monthly stipend for the students.
- Allowing for closer ties between top-notch universities and the accounting profession by allowing a close exchange of ideas between academics and practitioners. All too often, academic institutions work in a vacuum when it comes to curriculum and program development.
- Signing an agreement that commits graduates to stay with Ernst & Young for three years after graduation, with built-in incentives to lower turnover. Increase in retention maintains a valuable skill level and substantially reduces turnover costs for the firm.
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