Is Beta Alpha Psi Still Relevant to the Accounting Profession?
By William L. Stephens NOVEMBER 2007 – For many years, membership in Beta Alpha Psi (BAP), the premier accounting fraternity for college students, virtually guaranteed students a job at a top accounting firm. Likewise, firms knew exactly where to find the top accounting students. In recent years, however, the accounting recruiting model has changed. Today, top students commonly commit to an internship in their junior year, with a successful internship often leading to a permanent job offer. Thus, at the very time when students used to be joining BAP, they already have serious job prospects. This change in the recruiting model has led some students, and professionals, to ask: “Is Beta Alpha Psi still relevant?” If indeed BAP is no longer the primary source of recruits, are there other reasons for the profession to continue its support for BAP, and for individual accounting students to consider BAP membership a value-added experience? The purpose of this article is to assure the professi
