The Washington Campus offers graduate Accounting and Public Policy capstone courses, designed for students completing a graduate accounting, tax, or similar degree. Students are offered an intensive, distinctive, personal and professional development experience, ranging from 3 to 5 days, in Washington, D.C. The courses address critical public policy institutions, issues, and trends affecting the profession of accounting.
Participants meet with and gain a greater understanding of the role of regulatory agencies such as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Participants also have meetings and discussions with organizations governing the accounting profession, such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Center for Audit Quality, as well as more informal organizations such as trade associations and think tanks. The Washington Campus courses also include visits with members and staff from Congress and officials from the Executive Branch in order to understand their institutional roles in governing the profession. These meetings may include discussions of the relevant tax, securities, commodities, and oversight committees in Congress, for example. Within the Executive Branch, discussions typically include the operations of forensic accounting and compliance within agencies such as the U.S. Treasury, Internal Revenues Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Participants also gain practical insights into the strategic role of government relations, as well as the role of public policy lobbying and advocacy by the overall profession and individual firms, regarding issues that affect them and their clients. Other topical sessions often include discussions of cybersecurity policy, tax policy, and other topics relevant to the profession and to key clients.
In order to meet academic credit contact hour requirements, in-person courses typically run Monday-Wednesday from approximately 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., with a 4:00 p.m. close on Wednesday.
I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to visit The Washington Campus last week with other students from the Graduate Accounting Programs at IU. During my stay, I was able to hear from guest speakers including lobbyists, representatives from the SEC and FBI, fiscal policy advisors, economists, cybersecurity experts, and more! I enjoyed learning about the interplay of accounting and public policy, and hope to return to D.C. in the future to further my knowledge of these issues.
It was very interesting to hear the perspectives of those in publicly traded companies, advocates for investors, lobbying interests, and how the opinions were similar and contrasted. I found all of the speakers to be very interesting. Specifically, the HP speaker, GE speaker, Howard U speaker, and the economists. There were interesting perspectives from lawyers, lobbying advocates, economists, and former regulators. Membership perspectives from the business round table were also important.
The Capitol Hill Congressional Perspective presentation from Julius W. Hobson, Jr. was by far the gem of the program; the material was extremely interesting and presented in a very engaging and entertaining manner. I also found the Fiscal Policy and Political Priorities presentation from Marc Goldwein to be very informative as well.
Should you have any questions during the registration process regarding payment, including any special conditions that may vary according to your school’s specific arrangements, please consult with your home campus MBA staff representative or contact The Washington Campus staff at (202) 234-4446 or info@washcampus.edu.
In order to gain access to certain government buildings, proper government-issued identification is required.
As soon the registration process is completed, you will be sent a username and password to enter the course’s secure website where details of the course (including pre-readings) will be posted. Group project assignments will be sent to each student on the first day of the course.
Transportation to and lodging in D.C. are the responsibility of course participants. On the logistics page provided after registration, there are helpful hints and links regarding transportation and lodging options.
The Washington Campus facility is convenient to the Farragut North (Red Line) and Farragut West (Blue/Orange/Silver Lines) Metro stations.
Courses that are held in-person will be at or near The Washington Campus facilities, located at:
1150 18th Street NW, Suite 400
Washington DC 20036
Register for the next Accounting & Public Policy Program today!
