The New Jersey Society of CPAs joined together with other state CPA societies across the country and the AICPA to encourage support for legislation recognizing accounting as a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) field. The letter, sent to leadership in both chambers of Congress, requests co-sponsorship of bipartisan, bicameral legislation – H.R.3541, the STEM Accounting Pursuit Act and S.1705, the STEM Education in Accounting Act.
These companion bills would allow accounting programs access to existing STEM K-12 grant funding for accounting awareness and education and would help to strengthen the accounting pipeline. Last spring, the NJCPA joined CPA societies and the AICPA on Capitol Hill to discuss this legislation with members of Congress.
“There is increasing concern surrounding the accounting pipeline and we have continued to advocate for solutions to this challenge,” says Aiysha (AJ) Johnson, MA, IOM, CEO and executive director of the NJCPA. “H.R. 3541 and S. 1705 would help the profession address those challenges and should reinforce the relationship between accounting, math and technology – all of which are STEM fields.”
The letter notes the decline in the number of U.S. students who completed a bachelor’s degree in accounting and the knowledge gap that most high school students have about a career in accounting. It also highlights the need to increase access to high-quality accounting courses for students through grade 12 who are members of underrepresented groups.
The NJCPA has supported and joined in previous efforts by the AICPA and other state CPA societies to recognize accounting as a STEM field and will continue to advocate on this important pipeline initiative.