2021 Best Accounting Schools
Finding the Best Accounting School for You
With 105,123 degrees and certificates handed out in 2018-2019, accounting is the #2 most popular major in the United States.
With all the business programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.
The Best Accounting Schools ranking is one of many tools that Business Degree Central has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 2,106 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for business students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.
View our full ranking methodology.
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2021 Best Accounting Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best Accounting Colleges.
Top 25 Top Schools in Accounting
Our analysis found University of Pennsylvania to be the best school for accounting students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Notre Dame. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Accounting Schools list. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.
The average amount in student loans that accounting majors at Notre Dame take out is $19,750. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $218.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Georgetown University is a great place for accounting students. Georgetown is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.
While working on their degree, accounting majors at Georgetown accumulate an average of around $15,500 in student debt. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $161.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Rice University. It ranked #4 on our 2021 Best Accounting Schools list. Rice is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Accounting Schools list. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern U is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
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Washington and Lee University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for accounting students. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the town of Lexington, Washington and Lee is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Lehigh University landed the #7 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best accounting programs. Lehigh is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Bethlehem.
After completing their degree, accounting graduates from Lehigh carry an average student debtload of $21,705. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $225, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Carnegie Mellon University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Accounting Schools list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #9, Emory University did quite well on this year’s best schools for accounting students. Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Atlanta.
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University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #10 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best accounting programs. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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Bucknell University landed the #11 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best accounting programs. Located in the distant town of Lewisburg, Bucknell is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
On average, accounting graduates from Bucknell take out $27,000 in student loans while working on their degree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $280.
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Bentley University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Accounting Schools list. Bentley is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Waltham.
On average, accounting graduates from Bentley take out $22,750 in student loans while working on their degree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $249, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Illinois Wesleyan University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for accounting students. It came in at #13 on the list. Located in the small city of Bloomington, Illinois Wesleyan is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
After completing their degree, accounting graduates from Illinois Wesleyan carry an average student debtload of $27,000. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $280.
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Villanova University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Accounting Schools ranking. Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Villanova.
Accounting majors at Villanova take out an average of $30,510 in student loans while working on their egree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $338.
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With a ranking of #15, Santa Clara University did quite well on this year’s best schools for accounting students. Located in the city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
While working on their degree, accounting majors at SCU accumulate an average of around $20,000 in student debt. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $208.
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With a ranking of #16, New York University did quite well on this year’s best schools for accounting students. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
After completing their degree, accounting graduates from NYU carry an average student debtload of $34,701. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $404.
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With a ranking of #17, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign did quite well on this year’s best schools for accounting students. UIUC is a very large public school located in the city of Champaign.
The average amount in student loans that accounting majors at UIUC take out is $23,493. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $262, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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With a ranking of #18, Washington University in St Louis did quite well on this year’s best schools for accounting students. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Boston College came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Accounting Schools ranking. Located in the city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Accounting majors at Boston College take out an average of $18,750 in student loans while working on their egree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $208.
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University of Richmond ranked #20 on this year’s Best Accounting Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of University of Richmond, U of Richmond is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for accounting students. It came in at #21 on the list. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U of Michigan is a public college with a very large student population.
After completing their degree, accounting graduates from U of Michigan carry an average student debtload of $20,500. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $239.
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With a ranking of #22, North Hennepin Community College did quite well on this year’s best schools for accounting students. North Hennepin Community College is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Brooklyn Park.
The average amount in student loans that accounting majors at North Hennepin Community College take out is $19,500. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $202, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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University of Southern California landed the #23 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best accounting programs. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
On average, accounting graduates from USC take out $34,730 in student loans while working on their degree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $392.
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Minnesota State Community and Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for accounting students. It came in at #24 on the list. M State is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Fergus Falls.
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With a ranking of #25, Virginia Tech did quite well on this year’s best schools for accounting students. Located in the small city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population.
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Additional Award Winners
This section represents the rest of the colleges awarded a Best Accounting Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 2106 different United States accounting schools we analyzed.
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Accounting Schools award.
Accounting by Region
View the Best Accounting Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
Accounting Related Rankings by Major
One of 21 majors within the business area of study, accounting has other similar majors worth exploring.
Accounting Focus Areas
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Accounting | 79,652 |
| Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping | 20,239 |
| Accounting and Finance | 2,451 |
| Accounting and Business/Management | 1,853 |
| Other Accounting and Related Services | 749 |
| Auditing | 179 |
Majors Similar to Accounting
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Business Administration & Management | 410,147 |
| General Business/Commerce | 58,451 |
| Finance & Financial Management | 56,186 |
| Marketing | 51,241 |
| Human Resource Management | 26,823 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Pixabay.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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