UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Undergraduate accounting students in their junior year at Penn State are encouraged to opt into the recently expanded Conditional Early Acceptance (CEA) program offered by the Penn State Smeal College of Business Accounting Department.     

Traditionally offered exclusively to Penn State Smeal accounting undergraduate students, the CEA program is now available to all Penn State undergraduates who are currently in their junior year and are majoring in accounting or business with an accounting option at either University Park or a Commonwealth Campus.    

The CEA program offers students a two-year pathway to earning an accounting-related graduate degree from Smeal immediately following their baccalaureate studies. Degrees offered include Smeal’s one-year residential master of accounting and STEM-designated master’s in accounting analytics, as well as the online master's in taxation, which is delivered in collaboration with Penn State World Campus. 

CEA students will create strong partnerships with Smeal's accounting department and graduate admissions team through regular check-ins throughout their junior and senior years. These meetings will serve as benchmarks to ensure that students maintain the necessary requirement of a 3.2 GPA in pre-requisite courses in order to enroll in one of Smeal’s accounting master's programs.  

There are many key benefits to joining the CEA program, said Scott Collins, director of Smeal’s master of accounting and accounting analytics programs.  

“Because of the relationships forged with admissions early on, students can expect an expedited review process upon applying to their chosen graduate program. They also have the opportunity as a junior to put the CEA program on their resume, signaling to potential employers the drive to pursue graduate-level education” he said. 

Smeal graduate students can also leverage the accounting department’s corporate connection to the Big Four accounting firms and take advantage of career resources provided to students, including individualized support to assist with internship placement and post-graduate employment. 

“There are opportunities employers can create for students as they recruit,” Collins said. “Firms and companies recruiting out of our department will see the students tracking a master’s degree, and can create a recruitment pipeline for upcoming internships,” Collins continued. 

To learn more about Smeal’s CEA program or to enroll, visit the Conditional Early Acceptance Program web page.