Accounting, Business Administration, and Economics

“No matter what you end up doing, you can do it more effectively, more ethically, with an economics degree.”Stephen Hepburn initially planned to major in theology and philosophy, but with strong encouragement from his parents, enrolled instead as an accounting major. His economics course his first semester made him seriously consider switching majors, and after receiving a special exception to spend his second freshman semester in Franciscan University’s study abroad program in Gaming, Austria, and meeting economics professor Dr. Michael Welker, Stephen realized he had discovered a major he loved.

A major in accounting gave Greg Sisco ’13 more than just training in standard accounting practices.“Accounting is a broad field, and at Franciscan I also got the tools and knowledge to understand business and economic principles,” he notes. Greg says his professors, “the cream of the crop,” were confident, caring, and willing to go the extra mile to make sure students understood the coursework.As a student, Greg gained practical experience by volunteering six hours a week during a tax season to help local lower-income residents complete their tax returns. This gave him confidence in explaining accounting principles in layman’s terms, a skill that he relies on today.

“The business world is no longer local,” says David Kirk ’11. He should know: he’s a financial analyst for Cisco, a company that designs networking systems to connect the global world.

United States Air Force Captain Anne Delmare ’08 didn’t arrive as a student on Franciscan’s campus until her sophomore year. That’s because she spent her freshman year taking classes 4,000 miles away.“I knew I wanted to travel and learn a new language,” says Anne, so after high school, she headed to the University of Navarra in northern Spain. There, she studied Spanish language and culture, and earned credits toward the undergraduate Spanish major she would later complete at Franciscan University.Anne also majored in business, following in the footsteps of her enterprising father and other relatives, owners of a successful family winery in Huntly, Virginia.