Educator

Designing a program for the real world

August 18, 2022

The best choose Becker

At Temple University, Academic Director Sheri Risler knows how to build a Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program designed for real-world success. How? Because that’s where the heart of her experience lies. As a CPA and former audit partner at Ernst & Young with 20 years of experience working in public accounting, Risler is passionate about preparing students not only for their CPA Exams but also for their careers. “Our program slogan is ‘Get CPA ready, get career ready.’ And that’s exactly what we do,” said Risler. “Our students are prepared for the CPA Exam through both our curriculum and Becker, and we have great resources to help place them in jobs.”

Temple’s MAcc program is made up of a yearly cohort of 40–50 students and aims to help students pass all four sections of the CPA Exam before graduation. Beginning in August, students are encouraged to get a head start with BEC, their first course of the MAcc program. Then, across the fall and spring semesters, students work through FAR and AUD before finishing their studies with REG the following summer. The program itself is structured to correlate with the Becker CPA Exam Review course, which is built in for each student to take alongside their other classes. “We’re very focused on developing their analytical skills,” said Risler. “Their ability to take the knowledge that they’ve learned as undergrads and enhance it for a real-world application, because we know that’s what they’re going to do. We’re using academic resources to do that, and we’re supplementing it with Becker.”

“Becker has always been very supportive and accommodating to requests. They’ve always tried to help make me and the students happy.”

Sheri Risler, CPA

Academic Director, Master of Accountancy Program

Making a difference with Becker

Risler incorporates Becker into her courses to get students ready for the exam while also preparing them for what happens after they pass. “In my Advanced Auditing class, I use Becker CPA Exam Review, testing them on the exact content that I taught them,” she said. “Becker reinforces the content that Temple students are being taught, making it the perfect guide to CPA Exam prep.” Risler also wants to engage students with the type of work they’ll be doing throughout their careers in real-world simulations, which is why Temple has started using Becker AccountingMaster™ and Excel certificate programs as well. But content and tools aren’t the only things Becker provides. Temple also partners with and receives support from Becker’s local account manager. Every step of the way, Becker’s account manager is there to make sure everything runs smoothly — answering students’ questions, helping them sign up for Becker and explaining what they need to sit for the CPA Exam.

Powerful partnerships

Working with Becker is a great way for universities to strengthen connections with existing partnerships, and Temple has seen a lot of success connecting students and potential employers through Becker. Because many firms want students to take the CPA Exam and are willing to pay for the Becker CPA Exam Review course, universities that partner with Becker enable students to jump-start their careers with firms before graduating. According to Risler, “Becker saw that we place our students with firms that they’re already connected with. I realized that partnering with Becker was a great opportunity, so we built it into our program.”

Results

Temple partners with Becker to empower students in the classroom, on exam day and for their future careers by combining the top-notch Becker CPA Exam Review with real-world applications and connections. That decision has paid off. Today, Temple students exceed the national CPA pass rate, and 100% of students in the last Temple MAcc cohort received job placements, including one-third of students who came into the program without firm relationships.*