Three UMSL accounting students have been awarded $15,000 scholarships from the PCAOB. From left: Cassandra Beryl, Ashlee Wright and Jared Micke. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board scholarship program is one of the profession’s most significant financial awards, providing $15,000 scholarships given to accounting students across the country.

Three students from the University of Missouri–St. Louis Accounting Department are among the 2024 recipients: Jared Micke, Cassandra Beryl and Ashlee Wright.

“All three of these students and several others who were in consideration have qualities in common,” said Accounting Professor Steve Moehrle, who submitted the nominations. “They’re passionate about the profession. They are high performing in their classes. And they all have a strong work ethic and excellent professional demeanor.”

The official number of PCAOB scholarships for 2024 has not been revealed yet, but there were 369 scholarships, at $10,000 each, given out in 2023, a bump up from the 250 scholarships that were awarded in 2022.

“The mission of this program is to help future CPA auditors complete their degrees and enter the profession,” Moehrle said. “There is also a desire in the profession of CPAs to increase the representation of traditionally underrepresented populations. This makes our UMSL accounting majors excellent candidates for the awards.”

The PCAOB scholarships are unique in a couple ways. First, only students attending PCAOB-selected universities are allowed to apply for scholarships – 463 schools made the list for 2024, up from 336 in 2023 – and each school is only allowed a certain number of applicants. In the past, UMSL had only been allowed one nomination, but this year, Moehrle said he was elated to hear his department was asked to provide three candidates. He was even more thrilled when all three were chosen for scholarships.

The source of funding for the scholarships is unique, too. The PCAOB was founded in 2002 by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; a federal act passed with bipartisan support in Congress, motivated by accounting scandals at companies like Enron, WorldCom and Tyco International in the early 2000s. The monetary penalties collected through enforcement actions directly fund the scholarships.

“That’s a pretty efficient system,” Micke said. “If you’re going to fine somebody, what are you going to do with it? You might as well send it to the next generation of people coming in.”

The scholarships are awarded to accounting students considering a career in auditing – students who might have otherwise chosen a different type of accounting, or not pursued graduate school at all. Moehrle called it an excellent example of public policy.

“Using the funds to shore up the profession’s future is brilliant,” Moehrle said. “First, it provides young people with an opportunity to change their lives. Second, it eliminates any appearances of impropriety associated with allegations of levying fines simply to increase organizational resources.”

Learn more about the three scholarship recipients below.

Ashlee Wright

The COVID-19 pandemic offered Wright an opportunity to change her career path. She had worked in the hospitality industry for 20 years while raising her three kids – now 19, 15 and 8 – all the while knowing at some point she wanted to finish her accounting degree.

“I thought, ‘What better time than now?’” said Wright, who grew up and lives in St. Charles County. “So I went back to the community college, finished my degree and started at UMSL after my associate. It just seemed like the right fit to be close to home. It’s one of the best business schools in the area and the best accounting program in the area. It just made more sense, especially with their flexible schedule, and the cost is a lot less than other universities financially. It’s really worked out.”

She’s on track to finish her undergraduate degree in December, but it hasn’t always been easy.

“I work full-time, go to school full-time and raise three children full-time as a single mom,” she said. “It’s just a lot.”

She knew that graduate school was going to be necessary in order to get the 150 hours required to sit for the CPA exam, and that future expense weighed on her. Wright said that just knowing she was selected as a candidate for the scholarship – that people at UMSL saw her value and recognized her hard work – was an honor, a boost that helped her finish the spring semester strong.

Wright said she’ll never forget the moment she found out she had been selected.

“I had taken my son and his friends to the movie ‘Inside Out 2,’” she said. “It’s so good, especially for kids their age who are athletes. The email came through while I was in the theater, and I lost it. Between that and the movie, I was an emotional wreck. The stress that this takes off is huge. What an honor, what a blessing.”

For the past three years – starting when she was at St. Charles Community College – Wright has worked for Lexicon Services, which is the practice management company for the Cordell & Cordell law firm. She’s loved her UMSL experience, and feels the same way about her bosses and co-workers at Lexicon.

“I was on our collections team when I started there,” she said, “but everybody knew that I was going to school to finish my accounting degree. That’s what I wanted to do, and that’s what I was going to do. In under three years, I’ve been promoted twice, and I’ve been in a staff accountant role since last April.”

Cassandra Beryl

Beryl and her mother, Helen Ekovi, moved from Cameroon five years ago, leaving the Central African country in search of a better quality of life and better educational opportunities. The pair chose the St. Louis area, joining a handful of family members who had already made the journey.

“I moved here with my mom, but I also have family back in Cameroon; my two younger brothers and my father are back there,” she said. “My mom and I take turns visiting. If she goes in the summer, I go over Christmas break or the other way around. But we’re hoping that they’ll come here eventually, and we can all be together.”

Beryl earned her associate degree from St. Charles Community College and chose to continue her education at UMSL based on recommendations from her professors and the combination of affordability and the stellar reputation of UMSL Business. In March of this year – as she entered the key stretch with graduation looming in May – she got an email from Moehrle telling her she would be nominated for the scholarship.

Excitedly, she pinned the email but didn’t reply immediately. Projects and finals preparation beckoned. A follow-up email from Thomas Kozloski came at just the right time when she was trying to decide on her next step after graduation.

“It’s a blessing,” she said. “The biggest thing that was going to deter me from grad school at that point was the money. I would have had to take out a loan, and that financial burden, I didn’t want that on my plate. But I’m thankful that Professor Kozloski reminded me because that’s when I thought, ‘OK, if I get it, then I’ll go to grad school because then I’ll have the financial provisions.’”

Once she learned she had received the PCAOB scholarship, the next step was obvious. Beryl, who is also a student in the Pierre Laclede Honors College, enrolled in her graduate classes at UMSL, and she’ll pursue her MAcc starting this fall.

“I’m so grateful for this scholarship opportunity,” she said. “Professor Moehrle, he was my first accounting professor when I started, for Financial Accounting. He was good at encouraging me to go pursue my dreams.”

This summer, Beryl is interning at Nidec Motor Corporation, and she already has an internship lined up for January 2025 with the St. Louis branch of Wipfli, a Top 20 accounting firm nationally.

“I’m doing this internal audit internship at Nidec, and then my internship at Wipfli will be more looking at things from a CPA perspective,” she said. “I wanted both of those perspectives so I can pick which one I find more interesting and go that route.”

Jared Micke

Micke has always enjoyed the challenge of hitting aggressive sales goals. He works with clients to match their needs with his inventory of windows and doors at Lowe’s in Festus, near his hometown of De Soto. But trying to meet those numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, when supply chain issues meant a six-month lead time?

That was a different animal. It was also an opportunity to look forward.

“I always knew I was going to go back to school; I just didn’t know for what,” he said. “But just talking to other people and hearing their advice, they’d talk about accounting, how versatile it was and how much you could do. It’s a natural fit.”

After two years at Jefferson College, where he earned his associate degree, and after much research into his options, Micke enrolled at UMSL.

“The program is phenomenal,” he said. “I didn’t just get into here, I got into several other schools, too. I chose UMSL. For one, I like the cost. And the way UMSL sets up the schedules, they’re very good at tailoring things to the student. No matter when you’re free, UMSL has a way to get you in that class without you having to wait for the next semester.”

Micke, who lives in De Soto, takes some classes online, but he’s tried to take as many of his accounting classes in person as possible. With his job at Lowe’s 45 minutes from campus without traffic, that can sometimes require a lot of extra effort, but it’s important to him to develop relationships with the accounting faculty members and his fellow accounting students.

“I’m the kind of guy who, when I learn something in school, I don’t just want to know the answer so I can finish the homework,” he said. “I try to think of a practical application, like how I would use this information if somebody asked me a question. Being able to go to my professors after class and ask them, and they have real-world experience to answer your question? You get better answers, feedback that’s more realistic.”

The freedom of a less work-dictated schedule is one of the biggest benefits of this PCAOB scholarship, as there have been many events and networking get-togethers he’s had to miss.

“At UMSL, we have a lot of events on campus built around recruiting, meeting with people from various firms,” he said. “By having the scholarship, I can work fewer hours and spend more time focused on recruiting, putting my name out there and doing the little things that I need to do to put myself in a position to get the best job. This scholarship opens those doors.”

Micke has taken advantage of UMSL’s connections in the St. Louis accounting community. Last year, he did a tax internship at Deloitte. He has an audit internship at KPMG lined up, and after that he has a tech consulting internship at EY waiting. He has intentionally cast a wide net, so he understands his future accounting options.

He’s on track to finish his undergraduate degree next May, and then he’ll pursue his MAcc at UMSL.

“I’m just really grateful to be chosen,” he said. “The money is great, obviously, and it really helps. But to me, to know the faculty chose you when you respect the faculty so much, it’s just reaffirming that you’re on the right path. It’s very motivating.”