Business Brief
Accounting sees enrollment jump as career worries grow
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Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
While AI stokes career anxiety, more college students are looking to accounting as a steady, high-paying bet.
The big picture: The stereotypically "dull and tedious" job, Fortune reports, "has struggled for years to attract young talent." But that's starting to change.
By the numbers: Total U.S. postsecondary accounting enrollment rose to roughly 313,400 students in 2025 — up from 293,800 in 2024, according to the National Student Clearinghouse.
- Meanwhile, fall 2025 undergraduate accounting enrollment also climbed for the third straight year.
Zoom in: Atlanta's Emory University granted 34 Master of Accounting degrees through its joint bachelor of business administration program during the 2025-26 school year. That's up from 26 the year before, per data shared with Axios.
- This past spring, a record 48 students accepted admission to the program.
- Undergrads can also study accounting as a focus area within the business school.
What they're saying: Emory's master's program has "taken off" in recent years as broader economic uncertainty and word of mouth have encouraged more students to pursue accounting, professor Allison Kays tells Axios.
- Around the pandemic, students "started to switch to accounting for the stability," she says. More have followed suit since then.
As for AI fears, Kays notes many people who go into accounting become CPAs — a credential that might help them "feel more protected in the age of AI."
Between the lines: Rather than replacing accountants outright, research suggests AI is helping them work more efficiently by taking over the "boring" parts of the job, like routine bookkeeping.
- "I think the upper-level jobs, at least in the short term, aren't at risk of being replaced by AI," Kays says.
- Yes, but: "No one knows what's going to happen in the long term with AI."
Furthering accounting's appeal for students: Some colleges report job placement rates above 95% for graduates, with median starting salaries around $80,000, according to Fortune.
- The University of Georgia says over 95% of students are employed within three months of graduating from its school of accounting.
- Emory says its accounting master's degree has a 99% employment rate.
The bottom line: "I have not talked to another accounting person who has a degree in accounting who cannot find a job," one recent Iowa grad told Fortune.