University of California, Berkeley (Haas)

Graduate School (Business) • Berkeley, CA •  

Graduate School (Business) • Berkeley, CA

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University of California, Berkeley (Haas) Business School Overview

The Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley (Haas) offers these departments and concentrations: business analytics, consulting, e-commerce, economics, entrepreneurship, ethics, finance, general management, health care administration, international business, leadership, manufacturing and technology management, marketing, management information systems, not-for-profit management, production/operations management, organizational behavior, portfolio management, public policy, real estate, supply chain management/logistics, quantitative analysis/statistics and operations research, and technology. Its tuition is full-time: $69,814 per year (in-state); full-time: $82,059 per year (out-of-state); part-time: $3,708 per credit (in-state); part-time: $3,708 per credit (out-of-state); executive: $205,897 total program (in-state); executive: $205,897 total program (out-of-state); specialty master's: $80,486 total program (in-state); and specialty master's: $80,486 total program (out-of-state). At graduation, 75.40 percent of graduates of the full-time program are employed.

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At-a-Glance

School Type

Enrollment (ALL Programs)

Programs Offered:

Full-time MBA, Part-time MBA, Specialty Masters, Executive MBA

From the School

The reputation of Berkeley Haas is unsurpassed for fostering a close-knit community where commitment to academic excellence, purpose, and culture runs deep. But the Berkeley Haas difference starts even before that, with the first word in its name: Berkeley.

The University of California, Berkeley, is the leading public research institution in the world, at the forefront of new innovations, technologies, and social movements. Haas students have access to the richness of Berkeley through coursework, dual degree programs, student clubs, and events. Berkeley’s faculty have been awarded 114 Nobel prizes, including the 2020 Nobel for Chemistry to Professor Jennifer Doudna for her role in the discovery of CRISPR gene-editing technology. Two Nobel Laureates among the business faculty – Oliver Williamson and John Harsanyi – have enriched the world with their ground-breaking insights on transaction cost economics and game theory.

The faculty at Haas has included Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen; Laura Tyson, former chair of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisors and distinguished professor of business and public policy at Haas; and so many other acclaimed thinkers and innovators. Haas’ Henry Chesbrough is lauded internationally as the father of Open Innovation; Haas’ David Aaker is known as the father of modern branding.

ACADEMIC RIGOR X ECONOMIC ENGINE

The Haas network includes access to the global economic engine of Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and the entire Bay Area. Its Berkeley location puts Haas at the center of what’s next, the innovation that has made California the fifth-largest economy in the world. Lecturers drop in from tech giants, startups, biotech, fintech, and consulting practices. For Haas students, the connections are immediate: both personal and professional.

In addition to fundamental business knowledge in accounting, finance, marketing, economics, core courses support the development of critical skills including business communication in diverse work environments, data analytics, and data-driven presentations. The core curriculum at Haas includes deep coursework on innovation and entrepreneurship, inclusion, and sustainability.

The Haas program also offers concurrent degree options with Berkeley’s top-ranked Engineering, Law, and Public Health schools as well as certificates in real estate, business analytics, and sustainable business.

AT HAAS, CULTURE MATTERS

Haas is a campus within a campus, designed to spark innovation, foster community, and promote sustainability. It is anchored by the Defining Leadership Principles that mark the culture at Haas: question the status quo, confidence without attitude, students always and beyond yourself. The principles are woven into the fabric of the entire school. Haas makes exceptional efforts to recruit a diverse class of students, enriching the learning experience for all students.

Students can take part in more than 40 Haas clubs and hundreds more on the UC Berkeley campus or form their own. And when classes are over, they can hop on BART for the short ride over to San Francisco and Ocean Beach or head to the Sierra.

NETWORK FOR LIFE: HAAS ALUMNI

Through the powerful networks built at Berkeley Haas, students launch rewarding lifelong careers that carry a clear return on their MBA investment. Over a lifetime, Haas graduates earn $8.25 million, the third-highest salaries among top business school graduates, according to a 2021 study commissioned by Poets + Quants. The number was topped only by Stanford at $8.3 million and Harvard at $8.5 million.

Haas alumni are central to the Haas story. They form a distinctive network, always ready to provide valuable resources throughout a graduate’s career.

When you pick an MBA program, you are making a conscious choice about your future. Haas makes the case every day that the choice isn’t only about your future, but the world’s future too.

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University of California, Berkeley (Haas) 2024 Rankings

Overall Score

Full-time graduates employed at graduation (2 year average)

Full time graduates employed three months after graduation (2 year average)

MBA Program Rankings

  • # 7 in Best Business Schools  (tie)
  • # 2 in Part-time MBA

Business School Specialty Rankings

  • in Accounting
  • # 7 in Business Analytics
  • # 4 in Entrepreneurship
  • # 7 in Executive MBA
  • # 8 in Finance
  • in Information Systems
  • # 11 in International
  • # 7 in Management
  • # 10 in Marketing
  • # 4 in Nonprofit
  • in Production / Operations
  • # 4 in Real Estate
  • in Supply Chain / Logistics

Application fee

Test-optional admissions

Admissions Website

University of California, Berkeley (Haas) Admissions

Applicants :

(full-time)

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See how this school scored on the key indicators used in the rankings.

Full-Time MBA Cost

Tuition & Fees (In-State/Out-of-State)

$69,814 / $82,059

Room & Board, Books, and Misc

Financial Aid Available?

University of California, Berkeley (Haas) Cost

Student population.

Graduate Enrollment

Total Enrollment

Full-Time Degree-Seeking Students

University of California, Berkeley (Haas) Student Body

Gender distribution :

Minority Enrollment

International

Two or more races

American Indian

Pacific Islander

Not Specified is not included in this breakdown due to an enrollment of 0%.

Department Concentrations

  • business analytics consulting
  • e-commerce economics
  • entrepreneurship ethics
  • finance general management
  • health care administration international business
  • leadership manufacturing and technology management
  • marketing management information systems
  • not-for-profit management production/operations management
  • organizational behavior portfolio management
  • public policy real estate
  • supply chain management/logistics quantitative analysis/statistics and operations research
  • technology other

AND 14 MORE

University of California, Berkeley (Haas) Academics

Career & salary.

Base Salary By Occupation

# REPORTING JOBS

AVERAGE BASE SALARY

Number reporting operations/production jobs

Number reporting general management jobs

Number reporting finance/accounting jobs

Number reporting management information systems (MIS) jobs

Number reporting consulting jobs

Number reporting human resources jobs

Number reporting having jobs in other areas

University of California, Berkeley (Haas) Career and Salary

Specialty master's admissions.

Test-optional admissions (Specialty)

Specialty Master's Students

Minority Students

International Students

University of California, Berkeley (Haas) Student

Gender distribution (Specialty) :

Business School details based on 2023 data.

The MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance's Standards for Reporting Full-time MBA Employment Statistics are the globally accepted platform by which business schools capture, analyze and distribute employment data in order to ensure accurate and comparable information is provided to internal and external stakeholders. The Standards Compliance Review Program is an optional opportunity for schools to have their employment data reviewed by an external firm to ensure it complies with the Standards. Schools that make their employment data eligible for a review are providing an external acknowledgement that their data is collected using the Standards, and is accurate and comparable with other schools.

Connect with University of California, Berkeley (Haas)

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Reviews & ratings.

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Center for Financial Reporting and Management

About the Center

As part of the Haas School of Business, the Center for Financial Reporting and Management (CFRM or the Center) provides the accounting community with opportunities to get involved in the development of academic programs and professional activities. The Center serves to enhance interaction between students, faculty, practitioners, standard-setters, regulators, and business leaders.

Mission Statement

CFRM's mission is to promote the most innovative financial and managerial accounting education in the world through cutting edge research, outstanding teaching, a globally focused curriculum, and attention to ethical behavior.

CFRM implements its mission by:

  • Organizing conferences and educational programs for the benefit of practitioners, Haas accounting faculty, students, and alumni,
  • Consulting on an ongoing basis with its Executive Committee, comprised of leaders in Bay Area accounting firms and corporations,
  • Overseeing and implementing improvements to the undergraduate and graduate accounting curriculum,
  • Providing financial resources in order to attract and retain the best faculty,
  • Providing stipends to doctoral students in accounting,
  • Funding cutting-edge research,
  • Enhancing interactions between students and potential employers.

Our Commitment

As part of an internationally acclaimed research university, we are committed to promoting high quality financial reporting in the business community worldwide.

Our Core Values

1. Instruction

  • Teach innovatively to produce highly sought-after graduates and tomorrow's global leaders through continuous enrichment of the curriculum in response to changing needs in the market place.

2. Research

  • Engage in cutting edge research relevant to the dynamic global business environment.

3. Interaction

  • Facilitate dialogue between academicians, accountants, regulators, national/international standard setters, and the business community at large.

4. Relationships

  • Build productive partnerships with business leaders, employers, and alumni to explore and seek guidance regarding educational issues that are critical to the future of the accounting profession.
  • Nurture and promote corporate and social responsibility, including ethics and values that govern businesses and personal behavior.

Panos Patatoukas Email [email protected]

James Webb Email [email protected] Telephone (510) 642-5372

545 Student Services Building (mail address), UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1900; 2220 Piedmont Avenue (delivery address); 424 Faculty Building (office location)

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phd accounting berkeley

The Accounting Curriculum

From the ph.d. liaison.

phd accounting berkeley

“Welcome to the UCLA Anderson accounting area. Our Ph.D. program offers rigorous training in empirical and theoretical methods to prepare our students for success as faculty at top research-oriented business schools worldwide. We enroll a small number of students, which allows faculty to work closely with each student. Faculty-student collaboration on research is particularly important, and has resulted in several co-authored publications in peer-reviewed journals. Our placement record is strong, with recent graduates moving on to the tenure track at prestigious research universities, including UC Berkeley, Northwestern and Yale.”

Henry Friedman, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Accounting

Explore the Program

Alumni success.

phd accounting berkeley

Daniel Aobdia (’12)

Initial Placement: Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Dissertation: Sharing Suppliers and Information Spillovers: The Case of the Auditor

Daniel Aobdia studies the effects of disclosure on the functioning of capital and product markets. He has co-authored articles published in Accounting Review and Review of Accounting Studies, most recently, “Proprietary Information Spillovers and Supplier Choice: Evidence from Auditors.” His research won him the award for best mid-year meeting paper at the American Accounting Association and he is a senior economic research fellow in the Center for Economic Analysis at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

phd accounting berkeley

Elizabeth Gutiérrez (’12)

Initial Placement: Florida International University 

Dissertation: Evidence on the Role of Accounting Conservatism in Debt Contracting

Elizabeth Gutierrez's areas of interest include financial accounting, financial market regulation, IFRS, auditor reporting, debt contracts, and insider trading. Most studies about insider trading are focused on the firm, but Gutierrez's empirical research takes a macro view, shedding light on the information inside traders use to make strategic decisions for investment.

phd accounting berkeley

Omri Even-Tov (’15)

Initial Placement: Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley

Dissertation: Can the Bond Price Reaction to Earnings Announcements Predict Future Stock Returns?

Since graduating UCLA Anderson in 2015, Omri Even-Tov has worked with the Haas Accounting Group, focusing his interests on corporate debt, unsuccessful mergers and acquisitions, and the relation between accounting information, bond returns, and stock returns. His paper, " When does the Bond Price Reaction to Earnings Announcements Predict Future Stock Returns? ," was published in the Journal of Accounting and Economics in August 2017. He has also won the Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching, MBA Program for 2016 to 2017.

phd accounting berkeley

Ruihao Ke (’12)

Initial Placement: Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University

Dissertation: Earnings Quality and Financial Distress Prediction

Dissertation: "Earnings Quality and Financial Distress Prediction" Ruihao Ke's dissertation examines how the quality of financial statements affects their usefulness in the debt market - in particular, whether high quality financial statements can help users more accurately predict financial stress. The study shows how high-quality accounting numbers improve several popular distress prediction models. Ke's research, " Social Connections with Executive Teams and Management Forecasts ," will soon be published in Management Science .

phd accounting berkeley

Ben Lourie (’15)

Initial Placement: Paul Merage School of Business, U.C. Irvine

Dissertation: The Revolving-Door of Sell-Side Analysts: A Threat to Analysts’ Independence?

Ben Lourie's interests include financial analysts, market efficiency and financial accounting. His dissertation asked whether the "revolving-door" phenomenon , whereby analysts are hired by firms that they cover, poses a threat to their independence. His findings that pointed to a potential benefit to tightening employment regulations in the industry received media attention from Financial Times , Bloomberg and Business Insider.

phd accounting berkeley

Tsahi Versano (’11)

Initial Placement: Yale University

Dissertation: Discretionary Disclosure in Agencies

Recently, Tsahi Versano was a lecturer at the accounting department of Coller School of Management. Versano's research interests focus on the economic role of information in the business environment, disclosure decisions of managers, accounting regulation, and agency theory. His recent research focuses on the strategic disclosure of information by managers, the costs and benefits of regulating disclosure, and the optimal design of incentive contracts and organizational structures. Before attending UCLA Anderson, Versano was an assurance and transaction services manager at KPMG Israel.

phd accounting berkeley

Mingshan Zhang (’05)

Initial Placement: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

Dissertation: Three Essays in Accounting

Mingshan Zhang's research interests include valuation and empirical capital market research. Her work has appeared in Journal of Accounting Research .

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Our doctoral program in the accounting field offers broadly based, interdisciplinary training that develops the student’s skills in conducting both analytical and empirical research.

Emphasis is placed on developing a conceptual framework and set of skills for addressing questions broadly related to accounting information. While issues of financial reporting, managerial accounting, corporate governance and taxation are the ultimate concern, special emphasis is given to applying basic knowledge of economics, decision theory, and statistical inference to accounting issues.

Spectrum of Interests and Research Methods

Faculty research represents a broad spectrum of interests and research methods:

  • Empirical and analytical research on the relation between accounting information and capital market behavior examines the characteristics of accounting amounts, the effect of accounting disclosures on the capital market, the role of analysts as information intermediaries, and the effects of management discretion. Issues examined also include the impact of financial information on stock and option prices, earnings response coefficients, market microstructure, earnings management, voluntary disclosures, and the effect of changes in accounting standards and disclosure requirements.
  • Problems of information asymmetries among management, investors, and others are currently under study. This research investigates, analytically and empirically, the structure of incentive systems and monitoring systems under conditions of information asymmetry. Research on moral hazard, adverse selection, risk sharing, and signaling is incorporated into this work.
  • Other ongoing projects include research on the economic effects of auditing and regulation of accounting information, and analysis of tax-induced incentive problems in organizations.
  • Additional topics of faculty interest include analytical and empirical research on productivity measurement, accounting for quality, activity-based costing for operations and marketing, and strategic costing and pricing.

Preparation and Qualifications

It is desirable for students to have a solid understanding of applied microeconomic theory, econometrics and mathematics (linear algebra, real analysis, optimization, probability theory) prior to the start of the program. Adequate computer programming skills (e.g. Matlab, SAS, STAT, Python) are necessary in coursework. A traditional accounting background such as CPA is not required.

Faculty in Accounting

Christopher s. armstrong, jung ho choi, george foster, brandon gipper, ron kasznik, john d. kepler, jinhwan kim, rebecca lester, iván marinovic, maureen mcnichols, joseph d. piotroski, kevin smith, emeriti faculty, mary e. barth, william h. beaver, david f. larcker, charles m. c. lee, stefan j. reichelstein, recent publications in accounting, elpr: a new measure of capital adequacy for commercial banks, fraudulent financial reporting and the consequences for employees, rank-and-file accounting employee compensation and financial reporting quality, recent insights by stanford business, big investors say they use esg to reduce risk (but mostly focus on the e and g), more time to trade isn’t a good thing for many retail investors, nine stories to get you through tax season.

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Berkeley Berkeley Academic Guide: Academic Guide 2023-24

Professional accountancy.

University of California, Berkeley

About the Certificate

The Berkeley Charter of Professional Accountancy (BCPA) is a unique program that provides comprehensive accounting coursework with professional networking events. In just two summers, students can complete all of the coursework needed to satisfy the 30 accounting subjects units for CPA licensure in California. Students can earn the BCPA certificate by completing four courses (14-16 units) in one summer.

Classes are taught by full-time faculty from the Haas School of Business. Class lectures are held on weekday evenings (starting at 6:00pm) on the Berkeley Campus at the Haas School of Business. The program includes office visits to top international accounting firms, networking events with recruiters and professionals, and support throughout the recruiting process.  BCPA alums have secured internship and full-time positions at Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, and other national firms in the areas of auditing, taxation, and consulting.

Admission to the program is open to anyone interested in pursuing a career in accounting, finance, economics, or consulting. Students from any major and institution are encouraged to apply.

Certificate Program Website

Certificate Requirements

Students take four courses over 12 weeks (one summer). Courses must be taken for a letter grade and students must receive a C- or above to receive a certificate of completion. 

Students have the option to earn the certificate by completing only one summer — two are not required. 

Summer I: Introductory BCPA

Summer ii:  advanced bcpa, contact information, center for financial reporting and management.

F424 Faculty Building

Haas School of Business

Phone: 510-642-6334

[email protected]

Executive Director

Tiffany Rasmussen

F426 Haas School of Business

[email protected]

Assistant Director

Fani Garagouni

F424 Haas School of Business

[email protected]

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  • Dissertation Areas and Joint PhD Programs
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PhD in Accounting

  • PhD in Behavioral Science
  • PhD in Econometrics and Statistics
  • PhD in Micro-Economics
  • PhD in Finance
  • PhD in Management Science and Operations Management
  • PhD in Marketing
  • Joint Program in Financial Economics
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Chicago Booth has one of the preeminent PhD accounting programs. Our faculty conduct groundbreaking scholarly work, and our graduates have played a central role in the evolution of modern accounting research.

As a PhD student in accounting at Booth, you’ll have the freedom to explore and cultivate your research interests from day one—wherever they lead.

You’ll join a collaborative research community and work with prominent scholars whose groundbreaking research is recognized for its impact on the academic literature, accounting practice and policymaking, securities regulation, and elsewhere. In addition to your stipend, you may apply for research and conference travel funding from our research centers and the Stevens Doctoral Program. In research workshops and conferences, you’ll present your work and hear about the work of fellow researchers. 

Our Distinguished Accounting Faculty

As measured by research productivity and impact, Chicago Booth has one of the best accounting faculty groups in the world. The group includes Philip G. Berger, Hans B. Christensen, Merle Erickson, Christian Leuz, Michael Minnis, Valeri Nikolaev, Haresh Sapra, Douglas J. Skinner, and Abbie J. Smith, as well as an outstanding group of research-active junior faculty. The school is committed to maintaining the quality of this group.

These distinguished scholars are also teachers and mentors who will advise you, coauthor papers with you, supervise your thesis, help you find an outstanding job, and serve as colleagues throughout your career.

Philip G. Berger

Philip G. Berger

Wallman Family Professor of Accounting

Hans B. Christensen

Hans B. Christensen

Chookaszian Family Professor of Accounting and David G. Booth Faculty Fellow

Anna Costello

Anna Costello

Professor of Accounting and David G. Booth Faculty Fellow

Merle Erickson

Merle Erickson

Professor of Accounting

Joao Granja

Joao Granja

Associate Professor of Accounting and Jane and Basil Vasiliou Faculty Scholar

Christian Leuz

Christian Leuz

Charles F. Pohl Distinguished Service Professor of Accounting and Finance

Bradford Levy

Bradford Levy

Assistant Professor of Accounting

Charles McClure

Charles McClure

Michael Minnis

Michael Minnis

Professor of Accounting and Charles E. Merrill Faculty Scholar

Maximilian Muhn

Maximilian Muhn

Valeri Nikolaev

Valeri Nikolaev

James H. Lorie Professor of Accounting and FMC Faculty Scholar

Madhav Rajan

Madhav Rajan

Dean and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting

Thomas Router

Thomas Rauter

Assistant Professor of Accounting and IBM Corporation Faculty Scholar

Amoray Riggs-Cragun

Amoray Riggs-Cragun

Assistant Professor of Accounting and Kathryn and Grant Swick Faculty Scholar

phd accounting berkeley

Delphine Samuels

Associate Professor of Accounting and James S. Kemper Faculty Scholar

Haresh Sapra

Haresh Sapra

Charles T. Horngren Professor of Accounting

Douglas Skinner

Douglas J. Skinner

Deputy Dean for Faculty and Sidney Davidson Distinguished Service Professor of Accounting

Abbie J. Smith

Abbie J. Smith

Boris and Irene Stern Distinguished Service Professor of Accounting

Chris Stewart

Christopher Stewart

Assistant Professor of Accounting and William S. Fishman Faculty Fellow

Rimmy Tomy

Associate Professor of Accounting and Kathryn and Grant Swick Faculty Scholar

Anthony Welsh

Anthony Welsch

Anastasia A. Zakolyukina

Anastasia A Zakolyukina

Associate Professor of Accounting

Alumni Success

The American Accounting Association periodically awards a prize for seminal contributions to the accounting literature. Graduates of the PhD Accounting Program are regular winners of this prestigious prize.

Our PhD graduates in accounting go on to faculty positions  at some of the world's most prestigious institutions.

Kalash Jain, MBA '23, PhD '23

Assistant Professor of Business, Accounting Division Columbia Business School, Columbia University His research examines the impact of information processing frictions and investor decision making on asset prices and firm investment. His dissertation area is in accounting.

Sinja Leonelli, MBA '23, PhD '23

Assistant Professor of Accounting Stern School of Business, New York University Sinja's research primarily examines misconduct reporting, regulation and enforcement, and the use of ESG information by stakeholders such as regulators, employees, and consumers. Her dissertation area is in accounting.

Shirley Lu, MBA ’21, PhD ’21 

Assistant Professor of Business Administration Harvard Business School, Harvard University Shirley Lu studies Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure, with a focus on climate change and gender diversity. Her dissertation area is in accounting.

Spotlight on Research

Chicago Booth Review frequently highlights the work of accounting PhD students, faculty, and alumni.

One Way Discrimination Creeps into the Supply Chain

A Q&A with Chicago Booth’s Anna Costello about how the pandemic affected which suppliers got paid on time.

AI Reads between the Lines to Discover Corporate Risk

“Corporate risk exposures are often subtly implied in conference call discussions rather than explicitly stated,” write Chicago Booth PhD student Alex G. Kim and Booth’s Maximilian Muhn and Valeri Nikolaev.

Civilization is Based on Accounting

A Q&A with Chicago Booth’s Ray Ball on accounting’s past and future.

Financial Data Privacy Could Help Fight Poverty

Historical data can shape future outcomes, helping to determine whether a prospective borrower has access to a home, car, or other opportunities, write University of Utah’s Mark Jansen, Chicago Booth PhD student Fabian Nagel, and Booth’s Constantine Yannelis and Anthony Lee Zhang.

A Network of Support

Doctoral students at Booth have access to the resources of several research centers  that offer funding for student work, host workshops and conferences, and foster a strong research community.

The Chookaszian Accounting Research Center The Chookaszian Accounting Research Center coordinates accounting research at Chicago Booth and hosts research brown bags and workshops. It also publishes the Journal of Accounting Research , one of the top accounting research journals in the world.

George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State Dedicated to examining issues at the intersection of politics and the economy, the Stigler Center supports research in the political, economic, and cultural obstacles to better working markets.

Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation Chicago Booth’s destination for people committed to tackling social and environmental problems, the Rustandy Center supports the work of PhD students and others who are focused on transforming the social sector.

Inside the Student Experience

For Andrew Sutherland, PhD ’13, coauthoring research with Booth faculty was a highlight of the Stevens Program.

Dark Side of Finance

Video Transcript

Andrew Sutherland, ’13: 00:09 In accounting, there's tons and tons of research on these big public firms that have an army of investor relations people and they constant disclosing things. That's where most of the research was happening, but there's this whole other half of the economy, these private firms, that we didn't really know a lot about. We didn't know a lot about how they got credit. What was interesting to me is that a lot of time, firms are able to get credit without even providing any financial statements or any information whatsoever to the bank. The reason they're able to get credit is that they have a credit score. So in other words, the information is coming, not from the form itself, but from another bank who had dealt with them in the past. What really struck me was there wasn't really a lot of research out there on this information channel. That's when I decided I wanted to learn a little bit more about what this reporting channel does to contract and help firms get credit and how it changes banks' incentives to lend.

Andrew Sutherland, ’13: 01:01 Basically, the firms that have a good credit record or a long track record of borrowing successfully were the ones that were able to shop around. We would think that's a good thing, that giving firms more choice about who to borrow from kind of increases social welfare, you get better matching between lenders and firms. Kind of the dark side is that the firms that have had payment trouble that have defaulted or missed some payments on loans sort of get shut out of the credit part. You have a harder time starting any new relationships with outside lenders. That's kind of a cost.

Andrew Sutherland, ’13: 01:34 The second cost is that information sharing changes the game for lenders. So, if participating in this credit bureau basically allows outside lenders to pick off the firms that are doing better, then that destroys the incentive for lenders to kind of invest in relationships to begin with. That's sort of the second dark side of information sharing, if you will.

Andrew Sutherland, ’13: 01:54 So, I coauthor on a number of projects with the junior faculty member here named Mike Minnis. I probably talked to Mike more than I talk to my wife. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But, I mean, as a PhD student, there's only so much you can learn in class, and having a faculty member to work with that's kind of gone through the ropes and understands the review process, that's done something on their own, it gives you a really good opportunity to learn. That's something, I think that was absolutely instrumental in my success

Current Accounting Students

PhD students in accounting come to Chicago Booth with a wide range of interests and goals. Recent dissertations have focused on everything from machine learning to the impact of fiscal monitoring, and graduates have gone on to positions at some of the world’s preeminent institutions, including Columbia Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Current Students

Samuel Chang Jonas Dalmazzo Jewel Evans Lingyu Gu Yanzi (Yvonne) Han Grant Hayes Roope Keloharju Maria Khrakovsky Alex Kim Ginha Kim Andrew McKinley Fabian Nagel Pietro Ramella Hristiana Vidinova Hanbyul Yoon Jingyu Zhang

Program Expectations and Requirements

The Stevens Program at Booth is a full-time program. Students generally complete the majority of coursework and examination requirements within the first two years of studies and begin work on their dissertation during the third year. For details, see General Examination Requirements by Area in the Stevens Program Guidebook below.

Download the 2023-2024 Guidebook!

phd accounting berkeley

  • Doctoral Programs

Rick Antle

The PhD specialization in Accounting prepares students to become accounting scholars engaged in research and teaching at the highest levels in the general areas of financial information and contracting within and across organizations. 

Yale SOM’s specialization in accounting is designed to develop strong theoretical and empirical skills. There is a heavy emphasis on original research to form a base for sustained scholarship. Co-authored research, with both faculty and fellow PhD students, is encouraged and supported.

Yale’s accounting program is small (matriculating one to two students each year), and involves informal and spontaneous frequent interactions with faculty. The program maintains a 1:1 faculty-to-student ratio. Students interact with emerging research in a host of ways, from conferences held on campus to weekly seminars where faculty and fellow PhD students present and discuss their work.

Candidates tend to pursue a broad range of research interests, helped by courses in accounting as well as in various areas of management, Department of Economics, Yale Law School, and other parts of the University. They develop fruitful relationships with other Ph.d. students, especially from the Finance PhD program.

Examples of research submitted as dissertations by students in the program:

  • Intended Benefits and Unintended Consequences of Improved Performance Disclosure
  • Asymmetric Inefficiency in Market Response to Non-earnings 8-K Information
  • Real Earnings Management in Nonprofit Organizations
  • How Does More Frequent Reporting Reduce Information Asymmetry?
  • Real Earnings Management in the Financial Industry
  • Accruals and price crashes
  • Customer-base concentration: Implications for firm performance and capital markets
  • The Treatment of Special Items in Determining CEO Cash Compensation
  • Strategic Decentralization, Bargaining, and Transfer Pricing in Supply Chain Efficiency
  • Keynesian Beauty Contest, Accounting Disclosure, and Market Efficiency
  • Labor Unions and Management’s Incentive to Signal Declining Profitability
  • Investor Expectations, Earnings Management, and Asset Prices
  • Limiting Outside Directors' Liability through Charter Provisions: An Empirical Analysis
  • Nickels Not Pennies: Explanations and Implications of Granularity in Analysts’ EPS Forecasts
  • Auditor’s Pre-Negotiation Information, Accuracy of Financial Reports and Consulting Services
  • Taxes, Debt, and Firm Value: New Evidence

Examples of research co-authored with faculty and other students:

Publications.

  • Management of reported and forecast EPS, investor responses, and research implications (Management Science
  • Placebo Tests of Conditional Conservatism (The Accounting Review)
  • Orphans Deserve Attention: Financial Reporting in the Missing Months When Corporations Change Fiscal Year (The Accounting Review)
  • Why do EPS forecast error and dispersion not vary with scale? Implications for analyst and managerial behavior (Journal of Accounting Research)
  • More Evidence of Bias in the Differential Timeliness Measure of Conditional Conservatism (The Accounting Review)
  • The Effect of Litigation Risk on Management Earnings Forecasts (Contemporary Accounting Research)
  • Friction in Related Party Trade when a Rival is also a Customer (Management Science)
  • The Joint Determination of Audit Fees, Non-audit Fees and Abnormal Accruals (Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting)

Working Papers

  • Rethinking Determinants of Trading Volume at Earnings Announcements
  • Auditor Change Disclosures as Signals of Earnings Management and Risk
  • Individual Investor Overextrapolation
  • The Value and Information Effects of Initial Loan Contract Strictness
  • The Information Quality Effect of Accruals-Based Benchmark Beating: Evidence from the CDS Market
  • On the Contemporaneous Reporting of Income Increasing and Income Decreasing Special Items: Initial Evidence
  • Conditional conservatism: the case of goodwill impairments under SFAS 142
  • The power of firm fundamentals in explaining stock returns

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2023 Fall MCELLBI 249I 001 SEM 001

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About / Departments

Department of Accounting | Ph.D. Overview

Ph.d. overview.

Accounting: PhD Students

  • Stern’s accounting faculty has a wide range of research interests and continuously publishes works in all major academic accounting research journals such as the Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, the Accounting Review, the Review of Accounting Studies, and Contemporary Accounting Research. Furthermore, Stern’s accounting faculty has published in such major Finance journals as the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis.
  • The Department boasts a large and diverse body of Ph.D. students, who assist faculty with research projects early on in their doctoral program and often become co-authors to papers published in prestigious accounting journals.
  • The admissions process is a rigorous one and important criteria are: an interest in doing research and teaching in accounting, strong quantitative skills, and an ability to communicate effectively. There are no formal education requirements  other than possession of a bachelor's degree - an MBA is not required.
  • The quality of our Ph.D. program (ranked 7th in the United States by U.S. News and World Report) manifests itself by, among other things, our success in placing our graduates.

Click here to learn more about the PhD admissions process.

Accounting, Ph.D. Program Coordinators

NYU Stern Henry Kaufman Management Center 44 West 4th Street Suite No. 10-77 Phone:  212-998-0025 Email: [email protected]

Xiaojing Meng

NYU Stern Henry Kaufman Management Center 44 West 4th Street Suite No. 10-84 Phone:  212-992-6812 Email:   [email protected]

Explore Stern PhD

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Graduate Programs

  • Graduate Programs and Deadlines to Apply
  • Concurrent Degree Programs
  • Exchange Programs with Other Universities
  • Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programs

Man sitting on gold bleachers wearing a Cal shirt. The text on the image reads: Ahead of the game.

Ahead of the Game

Financial literacy class taught by Stephen Etter, BS 83, MBA 89, prepares Cal athletes for the big business of pro sports.

Layshia Clarendon, in a purple Los Angeles Sparks uniform, holding the basketball and being defended by a player for the New York Liberty, in a WNBA game. Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images.

Shortly before Layshia Clarendon, BA 13 (American studies), was drafted into the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the Cal senior attended a pre-draft orientation. Clarendon raised a hand and inquired about matching 401(k)s. The people fielding questions were floored. They weren’t used to college students knowing what a 401(k) was, let alone being savvy enough to ask about matching contributions.

“I remember going to that meeting and thinking, ‘Oh, wow, I already know some of this,’” Clarendon recalls. When it came to financial literacy, Clarendon was miles ahead of most of their peers—all thanks to an independent study course they’d taken with Haas professional faculty member Stephen Etter, BS 83, MBA 89, called Financial & Business Literacy for the Professional Athlete.

For more than 20 years, Etter has helped scores of UC Berkeley athletes prepare for the financial realities of turning pro. Everyone from football great Marshawn Lynch and quarterback Jared Goff to Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin and golf phenom Collin Morikawa, BS 19, have learned about navigating contracts, choosing advisors, investing, and more for their post-Berkeley lives.

Now, all of these issues are relevant for students too. In 2019, legislation was passed—first in California then later throughout the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)—allowing college athletes to earn compensation for the use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL) via sponsorships. No longer are questions about agents, contracts, budgeting, and taxes part of a hypothetical future; student-athletes are facing them today, intensifying the need for Etter’s class.

“I’m working with students who are putting a half to three-quarters of a million dollars in their pocket today ,” Etter says. Trouble was, his independent study only reached a small number of students. This coming fall, with the help of a grant from Robinhood Money Drills, Etter is expanding his course and bringing it to many more UC Berkeley student-athletes.

It’s how much you keep

The idea for an independent study for athletes first occurred to Etter when one of his students, Nnamdi Asomugha, BA 06 (interdisciplinary studies), approached him for some advice. Asomugha was preparing to turn pro (he was ultimately a first-round draft pick by the Oakland Raiders) and was suddenly facing major decisions that would affect his economic future. Etter, one of the founding partners of Greyrock Capital Group, had been teaching corporate finance at Haas for nearly a decade by then. He favored experiential learning with real-world applications, and helping athletes navigate the complex waters of a professional career more than fit the bill.

Athletes turning pro find themselves in an unusual position, entering highly lucrative careers while having no financial training. The eye-popping mega-salaries that generate headlines are not the norm in pro sports, but starting salaries for many athletes are nevertheless substantial. Still, as former National Football League (NFL) player Justin Forsett, BA 14 (interdisciplinary studies), put it, “It’s not how much you make, it’s how much you keep.”

Forsett, who played pro football for nine years and is now an entrepreneur and motivational speaker, says taking Etter’s course gave him a real advantage. “There weren’t a lot of courses on financial literacy when I was a kid, in high school or even in college,” he says. After gaining a solid foundation with Etter, he entered the NFL with what he calls “a conservative approach.” He explains, “I wasn’t going out getting fancy new cars. I knew it was about how much I could actually keep and save and invest in the right things.”

Prepare your future self

Each year, Etter begins the class by sharing a series of sobering statistics: 78% of retired NFL players suffer financial hardship. Nearly 16% of NFL players have filed for bankruptcy. And 60% of former National Basketball Association (NBA) players are broke . These brief, cautionary tales drive home a crucial point that’s easily overlooked by young student-athletes: While the pros earn big salaries during their careers, those careers are often short and can be wildly unpredictable.

A man in a Cal zip-up shirt standing at a whiteboard, teaching a financial literacy class to student-athletes.

“Steve tells us the reality,” says Cam Bynum, BA 20 (American studies), who studied with Etter and just finished his third season as a safety with the Minnesota Vikings. “The average lifespan in the NFL is three years,” he says. “If you’re blessed, you’ll make it to 10 years, maybe 12. So that means you’re retiring at 32 years old, maybe 35. That’s just half your life. So then what are you going to do?” Without Etter to prompt them, many student-athletes might never give that question much thought.

Elijah Hicks, BA 20 (American studies), a safety for the Chicago Bears, says that one of the most valuable aspects of the course was that it forced him to think ahead. “I got to put myself in my future self’s shoes,” he says. “The class puts you in scenarios before you’re actually there, so now I’m more prepared and I’m not surprised by anything that pops up, like taxes.” High-earning athletes, for instance, not only have to pay taxes in their home state but in nearly every state they play in, a fact that shocked many of Hicks’s first-year teammates—but not Hicks.

“If you’re blessed, you’ll make it to 10 years, maybe 12. So that means you’re retiring at 32 years old, maybe 35. That’s just half your life. So then what are you going to do?” —Cam Bynum

Ask the right questions

Since the course’s inception, athletes from a range of sports have studied with Etter, players heading to the NFL, NBA, WNBA, and Major League Baseball along with swimmers, golfers, and water polo players. News of the class has tended to spread by word of mouth among teammates, but coaches, too, have steered students to him. “The Cal coaches have had the insight and caring attitude to make sure they prepared their athletes for the financial aspects of their careers,” Etter says.

Not all professional careers are the same, however. Swimmer and six-time Olympic medalist Ryan Murphy, BS 17, knew he wanted to swim professionally after his success at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but he didn’t know what that entailed. In Etter’s class, Murphy’s fellow students that semester were heading for the NFL, but as a swimmer, Murphy’s professional path was less straightforward. “Our earning power is completely based on marketing,” he says. So Etter tailored the learning, helping him focus on finding a marketing agent.

“He connected me with people on campus and had me sit down for meetings with them,” Murphy recalls. Etter also encouraged him to talk to older swimmers who’d turned professional. “He was kind of a master connector for me.”

Getting out and talking to people is a big part of what Etter teaches. Whether it’s picking an agent, a financial advisor, or an insurance broker, knowing the kinds of questions to ask to make decisions that are in their own best interest is a fundamental skill he wants these athletes to learn. Sometimes, those questions come back to Etter himself. He continues to serve as a mentor to his student-athletes—they all have his number and aren’t shy about texting or calling for advice.

“This is a huge opportunity for students to start building wealth at an earlier age, especially athletes who might be first-generation college students.” —Christian Trigg, MBA 23

Changing the playing field

Similar to professionals, NIL allows college athletes to engage in sponsorships and receive cash payments and gifts. For example, student-athletes may enter contracts to appear for autograph signings, endorse products via social media, conduct camps and clinics, post personalized video greetings, and more. However, the policy precludes students from entering pay-for-play contracts with colleges and universities.

Half-body shot of a man in a suit and tie.

Some Cal athletes secure deals on their own or through agents, while others are paid through the California Legends Collective, a newly formed organization (not affiliated with UC Berkeley) that’s funded by donors who together create income opportunities like those mentioned above for Cal student-athletes. Advisory Board members include Lynch, Clarendon, and Murphy.

Christian Trigg, MBA 23, director of brand development for the Cal women’s basketball program, says the new NIL rules benefit players and the team as a whole. “This is a huge opportunity for students to start building wealth at an earlier age,” he says, “especially athletes who might be first-generation college students.” In his newly created position, Trigg helps team members build their brands and secure NIL sponsorships, which in turn will help attract talented recruits to Cal. As women’s basketball coach Charmin Smith notes, “Having a strong NIL presence is critical in today’s college athletics environment.”

Junior football player Jaydn Ott is benefiting from Etter’s class while still at Cal. Ott, a running back with a likely future in the NFL, has begun earning money through NIL contracts, and he’s clear-eyed about the importance of financial literacy. “I want to understand what’s going on with my money when I speak to my financial advisors, so I’m not just giving somebody my money and saying, ‘Here, do whatever,’” he says. “I’m able to sit down and talk with them and understand what’s going on.”

Just like pros, college athletes need to understand the taxes they owe, and Etter makes sure his students do. “A lot of NCAA athletes don’t understand the difference in income and taxes between being a W-2 employee and a 1099 contractor,” he says. NIL compensation is entirely 1099, which means there is no tax withholding; players must pay estimated taxes. Etter suspects that more than a few student-athletes across the country will inadvertently fail to pay sufficient taxes. But Jaydn Ott won’t be one of them. “After Jaydn got his first paycheck,” Etter says, “he put half away for taxes. And then he was worried, so he put half of the other half away for taxes, too.”

Two men, one older and one younger, both in Cal zip-up shirts, standing on the football field in California Memorial Stadium talking.

Spreading the wealth

Etter has long wanted to empower more students with the skills he teaches. Now, thanks to the grant from Robinhood, he’s going to. Starting this fall, the course will be reclassified as a full-fledged class rather than an independent study, which will allow more student-athletes to take it. The structure of the course is being retrofitted to accommodate up to 250 students, while maintaining the active learning style that’s a hallmark of the class. Etter will be assisted by MBA graduate student instructors who are reflective of the diverse student-athlete population.

Mary Elizabeth Taylor, vice president of international government and external affairs for Robinhood Markets, Inc., says that one of the company’s top priorities is providing the next generation with access to financial education. “Through the Robinhood Money Drills program, we are proud to give college students and student-athletes a strong foundation to responsibly manage their finances for the future,” she says. UC Berkeley is one of eight schools nationwide benefiting from the initiative.

The money is helping Etter fulfill a long-held goal. “My dream,” he says, “was to get this grant and to educate all 1,000 student-athletes at Cal.” From there, he says he’d like to bring the class to all NCAA athletes and ultimately to all 45,000 students at Berkeley.

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COMMENTS

  1. Accounting

    Accounting As an academic field, accounting has experienced a substantial infusion of new concepts and quantitative methodologies. These developments have aligned accounting with economics and finance more closely than ever before. Our program is geared towards providing an interdisciplinary approach to capital markets research in accounting. Program Overview A deep […]

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  3. PhD Program

    PhD Program in Business Administration. Welcome to the Berkeley Haas PhD Program! Partner with world-class faculty for a rigorous academic program in one of eight fields of study. Join a premier business school and a leading research university with a Nobel Prize-winning tradition - where you can seek new ideas and make an impact on global ...

  4. Accounting Dissertations & Placements

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  5. Curriculum

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  6. Accounting @ Berkeley

    Accounting @ Berkeley. Success in the accounting field takes more than being good with numbers. It means understanding how businesses and economics relate to each other on a local and global scale. It relies as much on your people skills as your computational skills. When you take our courses you gain both the core competencies and the ...

  7. Center for Financial Reporting and Management

    Center for Financial Reporting and Management. When you study accounting here, you follow a focused curriculum taught by top-notch faculty. The Center for Financial Reporting and Management's strong industry connections and advising help guide you to the career of your dreams. Student Events CFRM Conference BCPA Program.

  8. Business Administration: PhD < University of California, Berkeley

    The Berkeley Haas PhD Program offers six fields of academic study, for a curriculum of unusual richness and breadth. Since the program enrolls only 14 to 16 new PhD students each year, you will work very closely with the faculty members in their chosen specialties. This close partnership, coupled with the diverse academic and cultural ...

  9. Business Administration PhD

    The Berkeley Haas PhD Program offers six fields of academic study, for a curriculum of unusual richness and breadth. Since the program enrolls only 14 to 16 new PhD students each year, you will work very closely with the faculty members in their chosen specialties. This close partnership, coupled with the diverse academic and cultural ...

  10. University of California, Berkeley (Haas) Business Program

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  11. Center for Financial Reporting and Management

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  12. Doctoral Program

    The PhD program, which requires four to five years of full-time study, prepares students for posts at leading academic and research institutions. The division currently has a diverse group of doctoral students from China, India, Japan, Korea, Spain, and the United States. Last year, we were very successful in recruiting top-notch PhD candidates ...

  13. Business Administration, PhD (PHDBA)

    Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 The research seminar presents new research on economics applied to business management issues.Research Seminar in Economic Analysis and Policy: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction. 8 weeks - 1.5 hours of seminar per week. Ph.D. in Business Administration/Graduate.

  14. Berkeley Haas welcomes nine new professors

    PhD, Accounting, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania BS, Economics, Statistics and Finance, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania ... Berkeley Haas, being at the forefront of sustainability, has a unique position that combines the same ideals that drive my research with opportunities for collaborative research with serious ...

  15. Accounting

    Initial Placement: Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley. Dissertation: Can the Bond Price Reaction to Earnings Announcements Predict Future Stock Returns? Since graduating UCLA Anderson in 2015, Omri Even-Tov has worked with the Haas Accounting Group, focusing his interests on corporate debt, unsuccessful mergers and acquisitions, and the relation between accounting ...

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  19. Professional Accountancy < University of California, Berkeley

    Center for Financial Reporting and Management. F424 Faculty Building. Haas School of Business. Phone: 510-642-6334. [email protected]. Certificate Program Website.

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  21. Accounting

    Co-authored research, with both faculty and fellow PhD students, is encouraged and supported. Yale's accounting program is small (matriculating one to two students each year), and involves informal and spontaneous frequent interactions with faculty. The program maintains a 1:1 faculty-to-student ratio.

  22. Berkeley Haas ranked #1 for finance research

    May 17, 2023 | By Haas News. The Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley has been ranked #1 for finance research among almost 150 business schools worldwide in a new global research ranking. The ranking is based on publications in the top six finance journals as well as a host of other top-tier economics, finance, and ...

  23. Certificate Program in Accounting

    Estimated Cost. $9,400. CPA educational requirements change frequently. Gain up-to-date expertise in accounting principles, reporting practices and regulatory requirements. Our curriculum is approved by the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and an advisory board of business and education leaders. CPA educational requirements vary by state.

  24. GradPro

    GradPro is the campus Graduate Student Professional Development Resource Hub. Grad Pro supports students through all stages of exploring and preparing for a wide range of careers, within and beyond academia. GradPro also works with departments and faculty on developing discipline-specific professional development programming for graduate students.

  25. Professional Development Resource Lists

    Path to the Professoriate Workshop: A UC Berkeley program supporting underrepresented students as they prepare for an academic career in their discipline. Inclusive Excellence Hub: A physical venue where underrepresented graduate students can find camaraderie and build multi-disciplinary networks with their peers.

  26. 2023 Fall MCELLBI 249I 001 SEM 001

    Course Catalog. Class Schedule; Course Catalog; Undergraduate; Graduate; Copyright © 2014-24, UC Regents; all rights reserved.

  27. Department of Accounting

    Ph.D. Overview. The Stern School of Business of New York University offers one of the finest Ph.D. programs in accounting in the world. The curriculum is designed to provide a thorough understanding of current accounting theory, practice and research, taught within the framework of modern economic and finance theories as applied to the behavior ...

  28. Graduate Programs

    The Graduate Division serves more than 13,000 students in over 100 graduate degree programs. We are here to help you from the time you are admitted until you complete your graduate program. ... We're thrilled you're considering Berkeley for your graduate study. We offer more than 100 programs for master's, professional, and doctoral students to ...

  29. Severin Borenstein on the Utility Fixed Rate Study

    A Plan to Change Your Utility Rates is Dividing California Environmentalists. Here's Why… May 7, 2024. Cal Matters. Faculty Director, Severin Borenstein, is quoted in Canary Media regarding his 2021 research conducted with Meredith Fowlie and James Sallee on the issues with California's electricity prices and a proposed solution to address them. ...

  30. Ahead of the Game

    Etter will be assisted by MBA graduate student instructors who are reflective of the diverse student-athlete population. Mary Elizabeth Taylor, vice president of international government and external affairs for Robinhood Markets, Inc., says that one of the company's top priorities is providing the next generation with access to financial ...