Best Accountant programs in Wisconsin, ranked by enrollment
Examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records to prepare financial statements, give advice, or audit and evaluate statements prepared by others.
45 schools in Wisconsin run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,402 people a year. The job pays a median of $79,400 in Wisconsin across about 25,100 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Wisconsin that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Wisconsin that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Wisconsin (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Wisconsin page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Accountingmain feeder CIP 52.0301In Wisconsin → | 1,379 | 98.4% | 45 | $51,824 | $24,433 |
| 2 | Accounting and Business/Managementmain feeder CIP 52.0305In Wisconsin → | 23 | 1.6% | 3 | $51,824 | $24,433 |
Top 25 schools in Wisconsin
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 31 of the 45 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 221 | Accounting | $68,909 | 90% | — | 45% |
| 2 | Marquette University Milwaukee, WI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 94 | Accounting | $67,665 | 83% | $25,376 | 81% |
| 3 | Milwaukee Area Technical College Milwaukee, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 93 | Accounting | — | 25% | — | — |
| 4 | University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 79 | Accounting | $54,119 | 49% | — | 91% |
| 5 | University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Whitewater, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 72 | Accounting | $61,926 | 59% | — | 86% |
| 6 | Northcentral Technical College Wausau, WI Public · 2 feeder programs | 65 | Accounting | $36,562 | 45% | — | — |
| 7 | University of Wisconsin - La Crosse La Crosse, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 63 | Accounting | $62,450 | 71% | — | 76% |
| 8 | University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 61 | Accounting | $61,379 | 64% | — | 82% |
| 9 | University of Wisconsin - Green Bay Green Bay, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Accounting | $59,104 | 48% | — | 89% |
| 10 | Fox Valley Technical College Appleton, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Accounting | $41,261 | 65% | — | — |
| 11 | Madison Area Technical College Madison, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 42 | Accounting | $45,333 | 29% | — | — |
| 12 | Concordia University - Wisconsin Mequon, WI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 36 | Accounting | $51,908 | 68% | $24,409 | 78% |
| 13 | Gateway Technical College Kenosha, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Accounting | $37,881 | 51% | — | — |
| 14 | Western Technical College La Crosse, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Accounting | $42,732 | 34% | — | — |
| 15 | Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Green Bay, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Accounting | $40,925 | 51% | — | — |
| 16 | Lakeland University Plymouth, WI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Accounting | $56,114 | 42% | $20,767 | 86% |
| 17 | Mid - State Technical College Wisconsin Rapids, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Accounting | — | 52% | — | — |
| 18 | University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Accounting | $51,488 | 51% | — | 92% |
| 19 | Northwood Technical College Rice Lake, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Accounting | $30,586 | 56% | — | — |
| 20 | Saint Norbert College De Pere, WI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Accounting | $59,630 | 71% | $23,319 | 86% |
| 21 | University of Wisconsin - Parkside Kenosha, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Accounting | $47,648 | 40% | — | 75% |
| 22 | Waukesha County Technical College Pewaukee, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Accounting | $45,634 | 44% | — | — |
| 23 | Blackhawk Technical College Janesville, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Accounting | — | 34% | — | — |
| 24 | University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh Oshkosh, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Accounting | $60,885 | 46% | — | 87% |
| 25 | Moraine Park Technical College Fond du Lac, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Accounting | $42,629 | 58% | — | — |
All 45 schools in Wisconsin
Every school in Wisconsin with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Wisconsin - Madison | Madison | Public | 221 | 1 |
| Marquette University | Milwaukee | Private not-for-profit | 94 | 1 |
| Milwaukee Area Technical College | Milwaukee | Public | 93 | 1 |
| University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee | Milwaukee | Public | 79 | 1 |
| University of Wisconsin - Whitewater | Whitewater | Public | 72 | 1 |
| Northcentral Technical College | Wausau | Public | 65 | 2 |
| University of Wisconsin - La Crosse | La Crosse | Public | 63 | 1 |
| University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire | Eau Claire | Public | 61 | 1 |
| University of Wisconsin - Green Bay | Green Bay | Public | 46 | 1 |
| Fox Valley Technical College | Appleton | Public | 43 | 1 |
| Madison Area Technical College | Madison | Public | 42 | 1 |
| Concordia University - Wisconsin | Mequon | Private not-for-profit | 36 | 1 |
| Gateway Technical College | Kenosha | Public | 34 | 1 |
| Western Technical College | La Crosse | Public | 33 | 1 |
| Northeast Wisconsin Technical College | Green Bay | Public | 32 | 1 |
What accountants and auditors earn in Wisconsin
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $83,680. Wisconsin pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Wisconsin
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Accountants and Auditors page.
How to become a Accountant
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Wisconsin
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 7 majors mapped to Accountants and Auditors7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.1601Accounting and Computer Science
- 43.0405Financial Forensics and Fraud Investigation
- 52.0301Accounting
- 52.0303Auditing
- 52.0304Accounting and Finance
- 52.0305Accounting and Business/Management
- 52.1601Taxation
Common questions
Answers for people weighing accountants and auditors programs in Wisconsin.
What degree do you need to become an Accountant?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Accounting, which awarded 1,379 degrees in Wisconsin in 2024-25, 98.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Accountant?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Accounting and Related Services. Together they graduate about 1,402 people a year in Wisconsin.
How much do accountants and auditors earn in Wisconsin?+
The median is $79,400 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.1% below the U.S. median of $83,680. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for accountants and auditors growing?+
BLS projects a +4.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 124,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Wisconsin?+
45 institutions in Wisconsin reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do accountants and auditors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Auditor, Accountant, Financial Auditor, Certified Public Accountant (CPA) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card