Choosing where to study accounting can be a bit tricky, especially because there are so many different universities that offer great accounting programmes. The important things to think about are what you actually want to do with your degree after you get it, where geographically you want to study, and whether or not you’re planning on becoming a specialised type of accountant.
UK rankings
If you’re looking strictly in terms of rankings, then the UK holds its own, with four out of the top 10 universities for accounting and finance in the QS World University Rankings. Oxford is tied with Stanford University for the 3rd best university at which to study accounting and finance in 2015, with London School of Economics ranking 5th, Cambridge 8th, and London Business School 9th.
As far as rankings in the UK alone, the Complete University Guide, which ranks universities on entry standards, student satisfaction, research quality, and graduate prospects, has the University of Strathclyde as the best in their accounting and finance section, followed by the University of Bath, University of Glasgow, and University of Warwick.
Further abroad
If you don’t mind going outside of the UK, there are loads of other great places to study accounting. The United States fares particularly well. The QS ranks Harvard University 1st in the world for accounting, with MIT, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and New York University all in the global top 10.
Something more unusual…
Of course, if you’re looking for a more unusual accounting degree, you may need to look elsewhere. For instance, if you want to go into forensic accounting, you could go to Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Portsmouth, or the University of South Wales.
If sports accounting is more your thing, you could get a degree in Football Business and Finance from Buckinghamshire New University, or one in Sports Studies/Accounting from the University of Northampton.
You can even find very specialised degrees – like Keele University’s accounting and biology, if you want to work as an environmental accountant, – or a degree in accounting and finance and computer science from Liverpool Hope University, if you’re interested in working with software development teams.
Are you getting ready to start a degree in accounting and want to know more about what it’s really like? Check out our posts, the 10 best things about being an accountant and 10 challenges of being an accountant.
If you’re a student, you can sign up free to Clear Books for the duration of your studies – visit our student page to get your free account!
