The Texas McCombs doctoral program in Accounting boasts one of the most prestigious doctoral programs in the country and has graduated more than 300 Ph.D. students since its inception in 1934.
In the 2019 Public Accounting Report survey of U.S. accounting faculty, the Texas McCombs PhD program in accounting was ranked first in the nation, followed by Stanford University, the University of Illinois, and the University of Chicago. This ranking reflects the program’s diversity and excellence across all areas of accounting education and scholarship.
Our distinguished faculty conducts research across a wide variety of specializations, including financial reporting, management accounting, auditing and taxation.
The Texas McCombs PhD curriculum prepares you for academic life by developing research and writing skills. Doctoral students also secure one term of teaching experience. As a graduate of the program, you will be well-equipped to make contributions to accounting knowledge, assemble evidential bases for policies and practices of the accounting profession, and open major new sources of curriculum content.
The demand for skilled educators is strong, and doctoral graduates in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin have enjoyed considerable placement success over the years.
If you aspire to a career as an accounting educator and researcher, a doctoral degree from the Texas McCombs Department of Accounting will give you the foundation needed for success.
Our application deadline for Accounting is December 15th.

Areas of Specialization
If you are a practicing accountant, these topical areas will be familiar to you. However, we welcome students with backgrounds in Mathematics, Economics, Engineering, Finance, Psychology or other related disciplines to apply, and we can remedy any lack of accounting knowledge through additional coursework.
Most students enter our accounting doctoral program with some institutional knowledge in one or more of these areas:
Financial Accounting
Financial accounting researchers are interested in the use of accounting information by investors, creditors, analysts and other decision makers. We are also interested in the preparation of accounting information by managers who may respond to economic incentives and use discretion to manage earnings. Finally, we are also interested in the regulation of accounting information by standard setters and other regulators who are evaluating the relevance and reliability of current and potential accounting information.
Auditing
Auditing researchers are interested in questions of independence, governance, compliance, auditing processes and biases. Again, this research helps global standard-setters and regulators adopt standards and policies that protect the integrity of our accounting information.
Managerial
Managerial accounting research topics include optimal employee compensation and governance, using information for efficiency management, motivating creativity, and others.
Taxation
Taxation research covers topics of tax policy such as economic incentives, transfer pricing, compliance with tax enforcement, multistate taxation, and numerous topics about accounting for income taxation, where tax rules overlap with financial reporting standards.