The Impact of Online Education on Accounting Recruiting

Similar to traditional universities, university online programs are now ranked. For example, TheBestSchools.orgranks Penn State, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Minnesota, and Arizona State University among the ten best online colleges. It estimates that about one-third of U.S. students use online education (“The 100 Best Online Colleges for 2017–18,” Aug. 7, 2017, http://bit.ly/2vWW63j). Similarly, OnlineU.org ranks accounting programs’ top online certificate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees, all of which are AACSB-accredited. Its top ten include well-known universities such as the University of South Dakota, Indiana State University, and Georgia Southern University—whose CPA exam pass rates have reached as high as 87% (“2015 To Online Colleges for Accounting Degrees,” http://bit.ly/2wQ7muN).

Facing cost pressures, and with prestigious universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and MIT joining the bandwagon, many graduates will join the profession with at least some online education. As accounting recruiters rely heavily on the traditional university, they should prepare for this new environment.

Online Learning Benefits

The online learning environment provides many benefits. For example, online learners typically have more experience communicating through email or on a discussion board than traditional students, which could lead to improved business writing skills (Chin Choo Robinson and Hallett Hullinger, “New Benchmarks in Higher Education: Student Engagement in Online Learning,” Journal of Education for Business, November–December 2008, http://bit.ly/2hRJqo4). Online course software, such as Blackboard and Brightspace, allows all students to contribute to discussions, not just those who respond quickly, which can also enhance students’ critical thinking and communication skills (D. Randy Garrison and Heather Kanuka, “Blended Learning: Uncovering Its Transformative Potential in Higher Education,” The Internet and Higher Education, 2004, http://bit.ly/2vXMo00).

Online courses often give students the autonomy to effectively learn on their own, which will determine which students are more highly self-motivated (Robinson and Hullinger 2008). Online learners will also likely be more tech-savvy than their traditional counterparts, as they have navigated various software platforms and developed computer skills in completing their online courses. Programs also often have their top pedagogical and tech-savvy instructors conduct online courses. If conducted properly, online programs’ expansive reach can increase student opportunities to interact with people worldwide, expanding their experiences with different cultures and norms. Finally, the lower costs of online programs usually leave recent graduates with less student debt.

Online Learning Concerns

Some concerns about online learning include the rigor of the material, potential for cheating, attainment of soft and hard skills, and building of relationships among students, faculty, and professionals. Online degree graduates will compete for jobs and promotions against traditional degree graduates with, at least in perception, more rigorous programs. Online students lacking the requisite personal motivation may shirk their responsibilities and exert less effort than their traditional program peers. With pressure to grow enrollments and retention, some professors could reduce the workload and standards to meet student “demands,” regardless of the rigor that employers demand. In addition, faculty may be more inclined to “nurse” students to pass by assigning extra credit projects to bolster students’ grades. Also, depending on technologies implemented for test taking, faculty could allow open-book exams, potentially decreasing the amount of material students must learn and retain; these concerns are not unique to online education. Online courses need not be less rigorous or result in lower student learning, as evidenced by high CPA exam pass rates and success in the profession. The emphasis on quality will, however, vary widely between high- and low-quality programs.

While cheating is not unique to online programs, the lack of personal faculty interaction, the availability of exam banks, and reduced personal supervision for quizzes and exams increase the potential for student dishonesty. Some students can even hire others to complete their courses or entire degree programs (Brad Wolverton, “The New Cheating Economy,” The Chronicles of Higher Education, Aug. 28, 2016, http://bit.ly/2vMJlYJ). Recruiters should therefore delve deeper when examining students’ acquired knowledge and use interview questions to identify technically qualified students. Recruiters could also ask questions of faculty, with specific emphasis on how universities combat potential cheating, especially in programs with significant online content. Recruiters can also encourage faculty and schools to adopt emerging technologies that help reduce cheating by scanning assignments for plagiarism, monitoring students via webcam, and limiting their access to the Internet during tests.

Some recruiters have stressed that online learning usually works better for understanding technical accounting standards than for mastering soft skills. Online courses often use fewer group projects and fewer presentations than traditional courses, which means decreased opportunities to master critical “personal transferable skills” such as teamwork, presentation, and oral and written communication skills. These reduced opportunities may also reduce students’ experience with integrating many different cultures and skill sets and mastering computer skills through collaboration. As technology improves, however, these limitations may wane.

Depending on university support, online students could also have access to fewer structured career services—including assistance with resume writing and interviewing skills—and career placement than traditional campus-based students. Recruiters should therefore carefully assess online students’ abilities in these areas. Similarly, professors who do not meet individually with online students are less able to identify future leaders and those with “hidden talents.” Recruiters may need to offer more informal meeting sessions to better identify which students possess the soft skills necessary to achieve success. Firms may also need to increase early experiences for new hires to attain these necessary skills.

Finally, building relationships among online students, their classmates, and faculty is often different. The asynchronous nature of each completed task and lack of faculty interaction may impair students’ ability to develop meaningful, long-lasting professional relationships. Traditional university students often view their accounting professors as mentors, many of whom have public accounting experience to share with students to help guide them through the recruitment and employment processes. Traditional university professors also often have strong networks within public accounting and can help place top students in internships or full-time positions. In the authors’ experience, the lack of personal interaction in an online course and the geographic dispersion of online students can impair the faculty’s ability to use these connections to assist students. Recruiters must therefore seek out other paths for identifying top students in these programs.

Brace for Change

The benefits of online learning have led to its rapid growth, which will likely continue. Concerns have arisen regarding the course integrity of online learning and students’ attainment of technical and soft skills. Changes in students’ interaction with faculty may also directly affect CPA firms’ current recruiting methods, which often rely heavily on faculty input. Online learners, however, may have both stronger written communication and problem-solving skills, be highly self-motivated, be comfortable with technology, and may carry less student debt, which will change overall accounting education and CPA firm recruiting techniques. These changes may also enable CPA firms to recruit at a more national or global level, which will require a fresh look at program quality. Firm recruiters should more closely evaluate students’ soft skills, such as teamwork and presentation skills, and possibly expand in-house training and experiences for their new hires in these areas. Now is the time for CPA firms to adapt their recruiting, hiring, and training processes to prepare for these changes in the educational environment.