Experiences and Outcomes of English as a Second Language Graduates from U.S. Accounting Programs

ABSTRACT English as a second language (ESL) students are a growing, but infrequently examined, group in U.S. accounting undergraduate programs. Employing a sample of over 400,000 students from more than 600 U.S. institutions, we examine outcomes for undergraduate, ESL accounting majors as compared to Native English Speaker (NES) accounting majors. We find little difference in grades, but ESL accounting students report, for accounting courses, that they learn less and feel less satisfaction. At graduation, they are less likely to have a full-time job and more likely to have a part-time job. They are less likely to pursue a graduate degree and more likely to pursue another bachelor’s degree or have no post-graduation plans. For additional context, we compare ESL accounting students to ESL students in other fields to gain insights regarding experiences and outcomes for different fields of study. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: I23; J15; M41.