The Iowa Realty Scholarship helped change the course of Allison Ries’ (Accounting, Real Estate and Finance ‘19) college path. She received the money in advance of her junior year, and because of the financial burden it eased, Ries added accounting as her third major.
“I was really excited,” Ries said. “This was the first scholarship I was awarded at UNI, and it was a huge help for my junior year. I was planning on graduating a year early, but when I got the scholarship, I added my additional major.”
Scholarships didn’t really interest Chris Hoins (Accounting ‘95) when he arrived at UNIBusiness in the late 1980s. He and his Waverly high school sweetheart, Dawn, were planning to marry partially in an effort to receive more financial aid. They were self-sufficient and wanted to be treated as independents on their government applications.
Chris searched scholarship listings during those early college years, but nothing popped out — much to his detriment, he admits today.
At the culmination of one of the most shocking financial crimes in the Cedar Valley, FBI agent and University of Northern Iowa alumnus Scott Irwin (Accounting ‘99) was there to make the arrest.
The man under arrest was Russell Wasendorf, who, in the years prior, had been a pillar of the community. He owned a high-end Italian restaurant, several residences valued in the millions and a company, Peregrine Financial Group, which had been in operation for 20 years.
A wide range of Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firms were on hand for the annual CPA Firm Forum on Oct. 2 at the University of Northern Iowa, held by the UNI Accounting Club, to meet with students.
In addition to the Big Four firms (PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst and Young and Deloitte) — the largest accounting companies in the world — the forum gave a unique opportunity to mid-market CPA firms searching for potential employees. These regional companies can oftentimes be a great place for students to start their careers.
