Illinois CPAs offer accounting scholarships

The Illinois CPA Society and its affiliated CPA Endowment Fund of Illinois have begun accepting scholarship applications for the 2024-2025 academic year.

They will be giving out over 40 scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $4,000 each to accounting students attending Illinois-based colleges and universities.

To be eligible, applicants have to be upperclassman accounting students enrolled at Illinois colleges or universities who demonstrate financial need, academic achievement and leadership qualities.

For the sake of simplicity, there’s only one application required to be considered for all of the scholarships for which a student could be eligible. The deadline for applying for the following scholarships is April 1:

Illinois CPA Society Accounting Scholarships for seniors or graduate students;
Herman J. Neal Accounting Scholarships for Black/African-American juniors, seniors or graduate students;
James A. Sikich Visionary Scholarships for seniors or graduate students; and,
Women’s Executive Committee Advancing Women in Accounting Scholarships for female seniors or graduate students.

“By relieving my financial burden, I can now focus on my studies, engage in extracurricular activities, and seek out networking opportunities that will enhance my accounting skills and knowledge,” said Brian Cohen, a University of Illinois Springfield student and recent scholarship recipient, in a statement Thursday. “I encourage all eligible accounting students to apply for these scholarships. The Illinois CPA Society and CPA Endowment Fund of Illinois’ support can really make a difference.”
The scholarships come as accounting groups like the Illinois CPA Society and the American Institute of CPAs are trying to expand the shrinking pipeline of accounting students, especially from diverse backgrounds.