September 03, 2026
Is Accounting Academia Still a Good Career Option for CPAs? An Updated Perspective
By Clement Chen, Ph.D., CPA; Keith T. Jones, Ph.D., CPA; Zhaochu Li, Ph.D.; and Iryna P. Lytvynenko
An American Institute of CPAs survey published back in 2006 showed that there would be a shortage of accounting faculty in the United States, as the number of retiring faculty would be greater than the expected number of accounting Ph.D. graduates. (Click here to read the article.)
Meanwhile, the accounting Ph.D. job market had been very strong for new faculty members and for those wishing to change schools. The robust job market led many public accountants to consider a career in academia. Some articles have discussed the process of getting a Ph.D. and how to choose a Ph.D. program. (Click here to read the Today's CPA article “Thinking of Getting a Ph.D. in Accounting? Some Insights Into Accounting Ph.D. Programs.”)
However, contrary to what the 2006 survey predicted, the demand for accounting Ph.D. graduates has decreased considerably in the last five years. This article provides an updated perspective on the present and future outlook for accounting faculty jobs, and aims to help prospective doctoral students make an informed decision.
Accounting Faculty Salaries
Academic faculty positions typically involve three core responsibilities: teaching, research and service. Teaching includes preparing and delivering courses and mentoring students. Research involves producing scholarly work and publishing in peer-reviewed journals. Service includes contributions to the university, the profession and the broader community through committee work, advising and professional engagement. The emphasis placed on each area varies by institution type, with flagship universities placing greater weight on research productivity and publication standards.
Accounting professors are well compensated. Table 1 presents the recent salaries from some sample universities. For instance, salaries for accounting professors at flagship universities such as the University of Washington and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are substantial. An assistant professor of accounting at a flagship university could earn around $250,000 for the nine-month academic period from September to May.
For associate professors and full professors, the nine-month salaries can be $300,000 or more. Accounting faculty members at flagship universities usually receive additional compensation for the summer months for research and the amount is often approximately 2/9 of their nine-month salaries. Flagship universities focus more on faculty research and have a higher standard as to which journals and publications are considered acceptable.
Although the teaching load at flagship universities is low compared to those at their non-flagship counterparts, the work stress can be relatively high due to their higher research expectations and it can be more difficult to obtain tenure.
Accounting faculty members at non-flagship universities such as the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Oakland University tend to make less than those at flagship universities, although the salaries are arguably still quite rewarding. An assistant professor of accounting can earn around $150,000 for a nine-month contract, directly out of their doctoral program. These faculty often receive some form of summer compensation such as additional teaching in the range of $10,000-$20,000. Associate professors and full professors could earn $170,000 and above at schools in this category.
Although the above numbers may seem less than those at flagship universities, they are comparable to salaries of partners at many accounting firms. According to Table 1 and Table 2, assistant professors at non-flagship universities earn more than accounting firm partners with 5-9 years of experience. Associate and full professors earn comparable compensation to accounting firm partners with more than 10 years of experience.
Accounting professors at non-flagship universities usually teach more classes per year but have lower expectations for their research output than do their peers at flagship universities, which can increase their chance of obtaining tenure.
Click here to see Tables 1 and 2.
How Competitive is the Accounting Academic Market Now?
Accounting faculty positions are usually found on three websites: The HigherEdJobs.com, the Chronicles of Higher Education website and the American Accounting Association (AAA) website. The HigherEdJobs.com usually has the most job postings.
The AAA is the official association of accounting professors in the U.S. and job postings are more expensive there. In addition, research-intensive universities usually used the Accounting Rookie Camp for faculty search every December until 2023. At the Accounting Rookie Camp, job candidates had 15 minutes to present their dissertations and recruiting university faculty members used this opportunity to gain a better understanding of their preferred candidates.
Tables 3, 4 and 5 summarize trends in full-time accounting faculty job postings on The HigherEdJobs.com and The Chronicle of Higher Education website, the AAA website and the Accounting Rookie Camp respectively.
The HigherEdJobs.com: Job postings fell from 252 in 2014 to 182 in 2025, representing a 27.8% drop.
The Chronicle of Higher Education Website: Postings decreased from 145 in 2014 to 74 in 2025, representing a 49.0% drop.
The AAA Website: Listings declined from 117 in 2014 to just 42 in 2025, representing a 64.1% drop.
The Accounting Rookie Camp: Job postings decreased from 83 in 2014 to 21 in 2023, representing a 74.7% drop. The number of openings per candidate decreased from 0.49 in 2014 to 0.21 in 2023.
Taken together, Tables 3, 4 and 5 clearly demonstrate that the accounting academic job market has become more competitive in the last five years.
Click here to see Tables 3, 4 and 5.
Why is the Demand for Accounting Ph.D. Students Declining?
Many universities are not replacing retired faculty or hiring new faculty as expected a decade ago. One possible reason is that college enrollments have been declining. According to educationdata.org, total college enrollment, including both undergraduate and graduate students, peaked at 21,019,438 in 2010 and has since gradually declined to 18,939,568 in 2023, a drop of almost 10%. This enrollment decline could have been caused by a drop in the U.S. birth rate of more than 15% from 2007 to 2021. In addition, many people choose to work first due to increasing college tuition costs.
Further, a growing number of universities offer online programs with large enrollments. Examples are Arizona State University Online (more than 60,000 students), Purdue University Global (almost 44,000 students), Southern New Hampshire University (more than 135,000 students), Liberty University (more than 115,000 students), and Western Governors University (more than 150,000 students).
These online programs mostly operate in an asynchronous mode, meaning that instructors record videos and students can watch them at their convenience rather than being expected to participate in “real-time.” Compared to traditional in-person teaching, considerably fewer traditional faculty with doctoral degrees are needed for these online universities. The increasing enrollment in these online programs means that fewer students will enroll in traditional in-person universities, resulting in lower demand for accounting faculty with doctoral degrees at those schools.
Is Accounting Academia Still a Good Career?
Accounting professors continue to enjoy a positive work/life balance, which often improves once they attain tenure. As demonstrated previously, accounting professors are paid quite well, likely better than many might expect, and the average pay may match or exceed the manager level at accounting firms with fewer working hours and often far less stress. Moreover, most schools have summer breaks, so accounting professors will have such breaks with full pay.
At many schools, tenured professors can take paid sabbaticals for a semester every six to seven years, thereby providing further opportunity for a teaching break to make progress on their research projects. The COVID-19 pandemic increased the use of online teaching and a professor may only have to teach some classes in person, while teaching others online with internet connections. This provides even more flexibility.
Being an accounting academic is not without stressors, but the stress is typically manageable once one learns how to balance the expectations of themselves and others at their institution, or lands at a school with the appropriate “fit” for them. Stress may come both from research and teaching expectations, as well as other service commitments. High research expectations typically correlate with higher salaries, which largely explains why professors at flagship universities generally earn more than those at non-flagship universities. Even at a non-flagship school, where the list of acceptable publication outlets is typically much longer, research takes significant time to develop and communicate the results. Therefore, professors at the latter schools must balance the course preparations (and often other service expectations) with the necessity to maintain an active publication pipeline.
While course-related preparations take time, most time-consuming preparations take place when a professor teaches a course for the first time. After the initial preparation, a professor only needs to update the course materials when changing to a new textbook or updated edition, or to incorporate new professional guidance. Universities often assign professors to teach the same courses every year to increase efficiency and effectiveness of course delivery, thereby helping faculty to more effectively balance research and teaching responsibilities.
An Attractive Alternative Route After Getting a Ph.D.
While becoming tenured is a career milestone and often means lifetime job security, there is a little-known option that is desirable for some, generally called a clinical professorship. This position typically uses a lecturer with a doctorate and is especially common at flagship universities. In hiring a clinical professor, the school can fill classes with someone possessing a doctorate, but for considerably less money.
While the pay is quite attractive for the clinical professor – often $100,000 or more annually (see Table 1) – it is considerably less expensive than hiring a tenure-track professor for $150,000 or much more for a nine-month contract. When accepting a clinical position, the advantage for the instructor is that they often have low or no research expectations, while still enjoying a respectable salary with the prestige and other benefits associated with working at a well-known university.
Although their teaching load will be heavier than those of their tenure-track colleagues, the position may be very appealing if they enjoy teaching and do not wish to manage research expectations. Thus, these positions can be a win-win for both the university and the faculty member.
The Changing Academic Job Market for CPAs
Many CPAs have considered a potential change to a career in academia, which offers great job stability and pay with summer and winter holidays. While prior studies have provided very good insights about the job market, the demand for accounting professionals with a Ph.D. has changed considerable in the last five years.
As the first article in a two-part series, this article thus provides an updated view on the topic and aims to help prospective students make a more informed decision. The second article of the series will provide advice to prospective Ph.D. students about how to better prepare themselves in the changing academic market.
About the Authors: Clement Chen, Ph.D., CPA, is Professor of Accounting at the University of Michigan-Flint. Contact him at clementc@umflint.edu. Keith T. Jones, Ph.D., CPA, was Professor of Accounting (Retired) at the University of North Alabama. Contact him at kjones5@una.edu. Zhaochu Li, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Accounting at the University of Michigan-Flint. Contact him at zhaochu@umflint.edu. Iryna P. Lytvynenko is a Consultant in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
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