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Qualifications and Career Opportunities

Students pursuing accounting education should have an average to above average ability in math, reasoning and reading comprehension. Students must be detail-oriented, organized, and interested in working with computers.

Education Opportunities

RCTC has options for a student interested in accounting. They include technical programs and transfer programs. The technical programs are for a student who is interested in accounting intensive short-term training for immediate employment. The programs range from as short as 16 semester credits to as long as 72 semester credits. All the credits earned from one technical program apply to a longer technical program. The technical programs are not designed to transfer to other institutions, although some individual courses may transfer. All the technical courses are designed to provide training directly related to an accounting position.

The transfer option is for a student who is interested in pursuing a Bachelors degree or beyond. The program includes credits in liberal arts and sciences courses. The transfer programs are an AS and AA degree including a 2+2 with Winona State University, where the first two years are taken from RCTC and the last two years are taken from Winona State University. Additionally, there are articulation agreements with other 4-year colleges and universities.

Career Opportunities

Every business, government, and nonprofit entity has a need for accounting, which is the process of identifying, measuring, recording, interpreting and communicating financial information. These entities have a need for individuals with the variety of accounting training provided by the college. A graduate with a technical program of Bookkeeping Certificate or Accounting Clerk Diploma would be prepared for jobs to do routine calculating, journalizing, posting, and verifying duties used to maintain accounting records. Additionally duties could include preparing bank reconciliation statements and processing payroll, vouchers, invoices, and other miscellaneous accounting records.

A graduate with a technical program of Accounting Technician Diploma, Accountant Diploma or Accountant AAS Degree would be prepared for jobs previously described plus to examine, analyze and interpret accounting data for the purpose of preparing financial statements and giving advice. This would include being responsible for all the accounting functions of a small entity.

A graduate with a transfer degree would be prepared for an entry-level accounting position and has completed the first two years of education for a Bachelors degree. The graduate with the Bachelors degree would be prepared for an accounting professional career, including having the designation of CPA and CMA.