College Student Perceptions of AICPA and State Association Accounting Career Information Websites

Incorporating recent advances in communication and technology, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and several state professional societies have developed accounting career information websites to attract talented students and retain professionals by providing career-related information. Our study examines perceptions of these websites held by one user group, specifically college students, using an empirically validated instrument. Results indicate that college student users are generally unaware that these websites exist. However, once these users examine the websites, both beginning college students and accounting majors generally assign them high quality ratings. College student users perceive some differences between the websites, as three are consistently rated higher while three others consistently received lower ratings. Thus, we provide evidence suggesting that at least one user group (i.e., college students) perceives that the career information websites, developed through significant investments from professional accounting societies, are effective in providing accounting career information.