In both subject matter and methods, economics and accounting majors learn important and powerful insights into the human experience, which leads to research opportunities as undergraduates and careers in consulting finance, law, health care and government.
The Holy Cross Center for Career Development provides a wealth of information on careers and job opportunities for economics and accounting students.
The Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society may also be helpful for students preparing for a career in business.
Economics Majors
Students enter a wide-range of fields after graduating, including careers in the consulting, banking and insurance industries, as well as careers in law, journalism, teaching, educational administration, politics, finance, government service, public and private overseas service, and labor leadership. Economics majors with strong math backgrounds are encouraged to apply to top graduate programs in economics, business and related fields. In recent years, Holy Cross economics students have entered graduate programs at leading institutions across the country.
The National Association of Business Economists (NABE) is a nonprofit organization for people interested in non-academic careers. They offer a free booklet on careers for business economists, which can be ordered from their site.
Accounting Majors
Employers consistently seek our accounting majors for exciting and highly-paid careers, including those in auditing, tax, and financial management. Students typically enhance their career preparation by moving from sophomore summer leadership programs to junior year internship programs sponsored by large public accounting firms, and these internships often transform into full-time jobs with excellent salaries. Others successfully pursue opportunities in the highly competitive financial management training programs. Each year, a few students enter graduate programs in accounting, tax or law.
The majority of accounting majors complete the educational requirements to sit for the CPA exam. Working closely with academic advisors, they typically develop a plan to finish the required 150 hours of coursework while enrolled in the four-year program at Holy Cross. Majors earn top scores on the CPA exam with a significant majority passing all four parts of the exam on the first attempt. In 2016, an alumnus of the program earned one of the highest exam scores in the nation, joining a select group of past majors in receiving the Elijah Watt Sells award, bestowed annually upon candidates who have obtained a cumulative average score above 95.50 across all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination and passed all four sections of the examination on their first attempt.