Junior Core
The junior core is a revolutionary teaching curriculum and educational model pioneered by BYU in the early 1990s. The junior core differs from other programs in profound ways. The students are divided into five sections, and each section receives the same instruction. While the instructors may be different in each section, the curriculum is not. Instructors in the junior core meet together to prepare lesson plans and assessments, coordinate teaching schedules, and build unity in their teaching methods.
Many other universities have tried to copy the junior core structure since its formulation; however, no other university has been able to achieve the same level of coordination, cohesiveness, and success as the School of Accountancy (SOA). Kevin Stocks, former School of Accountancy director, attributes the program’s success to its extraordinary faculty. “They’re willing to try new things and give up traditional ways to do it,” Stocks says. The level of collaboration and planning required among faculty for the benefits of the program to be realized is staggeringly high, and complete implementation of this teaching model has only been achieved by BYU’s SOA.
The junior core curriculum was re-designed in 2020 to include the most critical competencies for accountants as specified by industry professionals and accounting educators. These competencies were subsequently grouped into nine courses taken during the students’ first two semesters as follows:
Fall Semester
- ACC 401 – Accounting Information Systems
- ACC 403 – Intermediate Financial Accounting I
- ACC 406 – Financial Statement Auditing
- ACC 407 – Data Analytics in Accounting
Winter Semester
- ACC 402 – Intermediate Managerial Accounting
- ACC 404 – Intermediate Financial Accounting II
- ACC 405 – Fundamentals of Taxation
- ACC 408 – Critical Thinking in Accounting (Block 1)
- ACC 409 – Integrated Topics in Accounting (Block 2)
The junior core is an intensive twenty-four-credit-hour experience, and many students take no other classes in their junior year. Those who do take an additional class take only one, and that is often a religion class.
BS Accountancy Program Expectations
- Attend orientation upon entering the major
- Join and actively participate in accounting clubs
- Secure a meaningful internship during the summer between junior and senior year
- Attend the senior send-off
- Schedule and attend an exit interview
- Report internship and placement data to your accounting career advisor
- Maintain a positive attitude and contribute to the learning environment of the program