Story by Amy Turner, Staff writer
Photo by Julie Boeker/The News
As an accounting major, Abbie Niemeier spends her time crunching numbers. Now thanks to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Niemeier has one less number to crunch.
College is expensive and most students rely on a mix of scholarships, grants, and loans to help cover the cost. Some students are forced to rely mostly on loans and can rack up a costly bill before graduation.
Attending Murray State for one year is estimated to cost around $22,390 for in-state tuition, according to College Data.
Niemeier was one of 332 recipients of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board scholarship. To qualify for the scholarship opportunity, the university has to have an accredited accounting program and offer a degree program for undergraduate or graduate accounting students.
Each eligible school was asked to nominate a student for the award.
According to the PCAOB website, Niemeier had to be enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s degree program in accounting at a regionally accredited U.S. college or university, demonstrate interest and aptitude in accounting and auditing, demonstrate high ethical standards and not be a PCAOB employee or a child or spouse of a PCAOB employee.
The accounting department at Murray State had other criteria they used to select a student. In addition to the previous standards, the department looked for a student who was really involved and could use the full amount of the award.
Leigh Johnson, professor and chair of the department was careful to mention that the accounting department has many outstanding students but the selection was also about finding a student who was early in the program and someone who could benefit from the scholarship.
According to the PCAOB website, “The PCAOB is a nonprofit corporation established by Congress to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect investors and the public interest by promoting informative, accurate, and independent audit reports.”
Niemeier, sophomore from Edwardsville, Illinois, was nominated during finals week of the spring 2018 semester and found out that she won the scholarship during the summer.
“I felt very honored that my professors in the accounting department had even thought of me at all,” Niemeier said. “I was pleased that I had stood out to them and that they thought of me as being qualified and a good student.”
Wayne Tervo, associate professor in the accounting department, said Niemeier’s attributes as a student is why she was on the list of students nominated.
“She does well in class and is involved in other things,” Tervo said. “She is always happy and makes it a better classroom environment for the people in there.”
Niemeier is a part of the accounting society within the department and is an affiliate in Beta Alpha Psi. She is also a part of the International Cultures and Language Association.