AICPA broadens minority incentive programs.

In response to recommendations by a special task force of the AICPA board of directors, the Institute intensified its efforts to attract minorities to the profession by modifying and expanding its minority incentive programs.

* The AICPA Scholarships for Minority Accounting Students Program was restructured to target minority students who have a high potential to become CPAs.

1. Eligibility requirements were raised. Formerly, a minority high school student became eligible for a scholarship on entering college merely by declaring that he or she planned to major in accounting. Now, a student must complete at least 30 hours of college credit, including at least 6 hours of accounting, to be eligible for a scholarship.

2. The scholarship application now includes an essay question and asks for information on extracurricular activities. Bea Sanders, director of the AICPA academic and career development division, said, "We're looking for students with high academic achievement and a demonstrated interest in accounting." For its part, the Institute increased the maximum size of its annual grants (which are renewable) from $2,000 to $5,000.

Information on the minority scholarship program was more widely distributed to include accounting and financial aid administrators at 750 to 800 schools. In the past, material primarily was sent to the historically black and minority colleges and universities. For that reason, the Institute expects the number of applicants to rise sharply from that of the 1991-92 academic year, when scholarships were awarded to 232 of 2,000 applicants.

* The Minority Doctoral Fellow-ship Program was made accessible to a greater number of minority candidates. Formerly, AICPA minority doctoral fellowships were available only to minority faculty members teaching at minority schools. Now, these fellowships are open to minority individuals who desire to pursue teaching careers in accounting at the college level. To be eligible, an applicant must have earned a master's degree or completed three years of experience in the practice of accounting. The size of the annual grants also was increased from $8,500 to $12,000. Grants are available for up to four years of study.

* Other efforts included an expansion of the Institute's Faculty Summer Seminar for minority faculty members. This professional development program, which included 80 traditionally minority schools in past years, was expanded to include 20 minority representatives from majority schools.

In addition, a computer-assisted system has been developed that will allow the AICPA to track the progress of scholarship recipients until they sit for the Uniform CPA Examination. This will allow the AICPA to gauge the effectiveness of its scholarship program in attracting minorities to the accounting profession.

Further, a minority recruiting brochure is being developed and a mentoring program to keep minority scholarship students on track is being studied.