By Andrea Estrada

KPMG, one of the nation’s four largest international public accounting firms, has named UC Santa Barbara a Premier School for its accounting program. UCSB is one of only 38 such Premier Schools in the country.

Among Premier Schools in the Southern California recruiting area, UCSB shares the honor with UCLA and USC.

With the designation from KPMG last month, each of the firms that comprise the “Big Four” in accounting have recognized UCSB as a key source for recruiting new accounting graduates. In addition to KPMG, they include Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Previously, Deloitte had named UCSB a Strategic School; Ernst & Young identified it as a Focus 60 School (one of 60 top universities in the country); and PricewaterhouseCoopers named it a Priority School.

The designations indicate each firm’s dedication of additional resources and recruiting efforts to the campus. Their recognition is based on the quality of the accounting program and its faculty, the success of UCSB students in passing the certified public accounting exam, and the talent UCSB graduates have demonstrated to the respective companies over the years.

Every year, approximately 300 students graduate from UCSB with degrees in economics with an accounting emphasis. The Big Four firms each hire as many as 50 of them, according to Coby Harmon, a lecturer in economics. The most active recruiting takes place in October among students who plan to graduate in Spring 2007.

“Most of our students already have jobs in place by the end of fall quarter of their senior year,” said Harmon.

“As an alum of UCSB, I am proud that UCSB was selected by KPMG as one of only 38 universities in our initial group of Premier Schools,” said Greg T. Geyer, campus lead partner for KPMG.

“The designation ultimately reflects the high quality of the UCSB graduates entering the business world. The faculty and curriculum are exceptional, which are reflected in the high percentage of graduates who pass the CPA exam.”