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Lakeland Welcomes Record Numbers to 10th Forensic Accounting Competition

Mar. 15, 2024

On Monday, March 11, Lakeland University welcomed 140 high school students from 29 high schools to campus for the institution’s 10^th high school forensic accounting competition.

The one-day event, held at Lakeland’s Sheboygan County campus, challenges teams of students to solve an accounting case study as they compete for the annual distinction of being the best high school accounting sleuths.

A team from Brookfield East High School took first place, topping the competition’s largest field to date.

Second place went to a team from Port Washington High School, third to Big Foot High School and fourth to Campbellsport High School.

“This is a fun way for students to learn that accounting can be an exciting career field,” said Lakeland Associate Professor of Accounting Brett Killion, the event’s organizer. “Accounting is more than just taxes and bookkeeping. This is a fast-paced day that introduces business and accounting students to the many career paths available in forensic accounting.”

The competition has teams of students working to solve a forensic accounting case study by analyzing the information and data provided to determine how the fraud was committed and how it could be prevented in the future. Teams present their findings to accounting professionals, who serve as judges. Teams are divided into pools, and the event culminates with a final four round where the pool winners present to all the judges to determine an overall winner.

Students attending the event learn about different careers in forensic accounting and hear presentations from experts in the forensic accounting field.

The day also included a panel discussion with current Lakeland accounting students, Maddy Rathsack and John Putnam; and Lakeland graduates, Zach Van Engen (Sargento) and Melanie Westphalen (Vesta CPAs).

What Make’s Lakeland University’s Accounting Program Unique?

• 54% of students who start their accounting degree with Lakeland graduate in less than 4-years.
• 30% of our accounting graduates have graduated with no student loans.
• Accounting.com recently ranked Lakeland University’s accounting program:
• #5 most affordable online bachelor’s program
• #7 on list of the nation’s 25 best online bachelor’s degree-earning programs.
• Ability to earn your bachelor’s degree in accounting plus your MBA degree in about 4 years.
• Only college or university in Wisconsin that requires students to take at least 3 courses in the important, emerging field of data analytics.
• Only college or university in Wisconsin which requires students to take a course in personal finance.
• Only college or university in Wisconsin offering an emphasis in the growing area of forensic accounting.
• Only college or university in Wisconsin offering MBA courses for credit in preparing for the CPA and CMA exams.
• Students often obtain high paying internships at local CPA firms as early as their sophomore year.
• Offers an intimate classroom setting with small class sizes and personalized advising by a department faculty member.