Villanova School of Business Expands KPMG Master of Accounting Program To Include Tax
VILLANOVA, Pa, May 9, 2019 – Villanova School of Business (VSB), which joined with KPMG to launch the KPMG Master of Accounting with Data and Analytics Program less than three years ago, will expand its curriculum to include a tax concentration for the 2020-21 academic year. Applications are being accepted through May 19.
Audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG LLP, in collaboration with VSB and The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business, launched the first-of-its kind and award-winning program in August 2016. Villanova is among nine universities throughout the country involved in the program and one of three with concentrations in both tax and audit offered as part of the curriculum. The program’s curriculum prepares future audit and tax professionals for today’s digital age.
“It is important for the nation’s top universities and companies to work together to properly prepare our students to become effective future business leaders,” said Joyce E. A. Russell, PhD, the Helen and William O’Toole Dean of the Villanova School of Business. “VSB is proud to join with KPMG to provide these students with the tax knowledge and experience necessary to make an immediate positive impact.”
Those interested in learning more about the program, including how to apply, should visit the program’s website.
“Disruptive new technologies and the growing urgency among many companies to reimagine their tax function are requiring tax professionals to expand their skills and knowledge beyond their traditional tax technical competencies,” said Jeffrey C. LeSage ’82 VSB, Americas Vice Chairman—Tax at KPMG. “We’re excited that this expansion of the tax concentration within the KPMG master’s program at top universities will help prepare tax and accounting professionals for the future.”
“The addition of a tax concentration provides our students with a competitive advantage to better support their career development,” said Jennifer Altamuro, Associate Professor, Accounting and Faculty Director, Masters of Accounting Programs, VSB. “This program is a rarity in academic-industry collaboration that goes well beyond a traditional Master of Accounting by integrating competencies in taxation and analytics into a unified curriculum. Our students will be provided with additional opportunities and skills to stay ahead of the curve and become leaders in the profession.”
Select students in the groundbreaking KPMG program at Villanova will receive full-tuition funding plus a stipend toward room and board, as part of KPMG’s sponsorship, as they study an integrated curriculum of accounting, audit and tax courses and get hands-on experience with real-world technologies and advanced data and analytics, the firm said. In addition, they will take part in an internship with a KPMG Audit or Tax team during the program and be offered full-time positions with the firm upon graduation.
To date, 51 students have graduated from the KPMG Master of Accounting with Data and Analytics Program and are now working at the firm. Another 134 students are expected to earn their degrees this summer and start working full-time at KPMG in the fall.
About Villanova School of Business
The Villanova School of Business (VSB) undergraduate program is ranked #1 in the nation by Bloomberg Businessweek and its online specialty graduate business programs are ranked #2, and its online MBA program is ranked #13 by U.S. News and World Report. VSB has been at the forefront of business education since it was founded in 1922. Serving over 2,700 undergraduate and graduate students, VSB is home to five Centers of Excellence – the Daniel M. DiLella Center for Real Estate, the Elenore and Robert F. Moran Sr. Center for Global Leadership, the Center for Business Analytics, the Center for Marketing & Consumer Insights and the Center for Church Management – with each designed to foster innovative, cross-disciplinary research and applied opportunities for students. VSB is known for academic rigor; creativity and innovation; hands-on and service learning opportunities; a firm grounding in ethics; and an applied education that prepares students to become outstanding leaders and global citizens within the ever-changing, complex, and fast-paced world of business. For more, visit business.villanova.edu.
About KPMG LLP
KPMG LLP is one of the world’s leading professional services firms, providing innovative business solutions and audit, tax, and advisory services to many of the world’s largest and most prestigious organizations.
KPMG LLP is the independent U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”). KPMG International’s independent member firms have 207,000 professionals working in 153 countries and territories. Learn more at www.kpmg.com/us.