Pacific Islanders now eligible for accounting scholarship

We've been the bearers of good news lately at the Pacific Islander Access project, thanks to several underrepresented minority programs that have decided to open their doors to Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. (You can read our recent posts to learn more about the two most recent announcements, regarding the Diversifying Faculty in Illinois program, and the Abraham Lincoln Graduate Fellowship.)

Fortunately for America's growing Pacific Islander community, the good news keeps coming!  We heard back from the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), which is the world's largest membership organization representing the accounting profession. AICPA administers the AICPA Scholarship for Minority Students, for undergraduate or graduate accounting students who are underrepresented.

We are pleased to share that this program is open to Pacific Islanders!  

We heard about this directly from AICPA, after contacting them following our national study on Pacific Islander eligibility for underrepresented minority scholarships and fellowships.  While their online information indicated that their programs did not include Pacific Islanders, they shared that their undergraduate scholarship accepted a Pacific Islander student as recently as last year.  They are reviewing information we have been sharing with them, and are working to revise the official eligibility criteria. 

We commend AICPA for supporting Pacific Islanders who aspire to become CPAs and/or teach accounting at the university level!  We also look forward to the results of their official eligibility policy change, which should clearly state that Pacific Islanders are an eligible group.

You can learn more about AICPA's scholarship programs by following this link here: link

Mahalo for reading!

Kawika