After years of urgent warnings about a dwindling pipeline, new data suggests the accounting profession may be entering a period of cautious improvement.

Business Insider reports that while the number of accounting graduates continued to fall in 2023-24, the decline slowed noticeably. Bachelor’s and master’s degree completions dropped 6.6%, still a decrease, but less steep than the 9.6% and 7.4% declines seen in the two previous years.

Enrollment trends are also shifting, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Spring accounting enrollment for 2024-25 grew 12% year-over-year, making the third consecutive semester of gains. 

This is because students seem to be responding to stronger salaries and allure of a stable career path. “You just don’t see a lot of unemployed accountants and CPAs out there,” noted Yvonne Hinson, CEO of the American Accounting Association. Entry-level pay, previously in the range of $55,000 to $60,000, has jumped closer to $85,000, with six figures in some markets. 

Employers are also adapting to what younger workers want out of the profession. Hybrid work, improved workplace culture, and more affinity groups are becoming part of the recruitment pitch. In the words of Hinson, “Gen Z is just not going to do what we did.” 

Technology is also changing the profession, shifting routine work to AI and freeing early-career professionals for more analytical tasks. That’s a development leaders hope will make the profession more attractive, though Hinson qualified that the gains are not evenly distributed.

Small firms and community colleges have yet to see the same increase in enrollment, she said, and demographic changes could stress the pipeline anew.