Finance Sector is the core part of every economy and financial literacy among citizens boosts the growth of any country. Accounting and finance education plays an essential role in business management by addressing ongoing issues in it. Along with traditional jobs, students holding degrees in finance also have the opportunity to become the upcoming entrepreneurs of the future. Therefore, it is important at the university level to provide the best possible learning environment for students. McDaniel College is one such institution that supports innovative courses in finance and accounting to prepare students for bright career opportunities in the future.
In the Honor of Alumni
Established in 1867, McDaniel College is one of the earliest co-educational institutions in the United States and the first situated on the southern side of the Mason-Dixon Line. Earlier, it was known as Western Maryland College, and later in 2002, it was renamed McDaniel College to honor its alumnus, professor, and trustee William Roberts McDaniel. The 160-acre campus with the nickname “The Hill” is located in Westminster, Maryland within close proximity to Baltimore and Washington D.C. It has a European campus in Budapest, Hungary as well.
Changing the Lives of Students
McDaniel currently enrolls 1,800 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students from over 30 states and 30 countries. The college is best known for its considerate faculty members that offer mentorship through which students get the freedom to forge their own paths. They can choose more than one major or minor or even self-design their own course based on their interest.
The community of McDaniel College is ignited with the mission of changing the lives of students with careful mentoring and attention to every individual. The college is committed to providing access to and affordability of education to every student enrolled in it. Being a student-centered community, it promises excellence in various sectors along with professional studies. It challenges students to develop their unique potential with reason, imagination, and human concern.
Developing Unique Aptitude
McDaniel College offers the ‘McDaniel Plan’, a customized and interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes experiential learning and student-faculty collaboration to develop a unique aptitude in every student. Launched in 2019, “The McDaniel Commitment” has four components—My Place, My Design, My Experience, and My Career. These components are embedded within the general education curriculum of the college. Students can enroll in first-year seminars and senior capstone projects. They can also take specially designed courses both on and off campus during the three-week Jan Term of McDaniel.
McDaniel offers distinctive courses based on Economic Issues and Policy, Small Business Management, International Finance, and Business Strategy and Policy. The college recently launched 11 new Major Programs in 2020, including Actuarial Science, International Business, and Marketing, among others. Additionally, the intermediate accounting courses prepare students for the CPA examinations.
Moreover, accounting majors at McDaniel also help to gain real-world experience through a vibrant internship program that leads to full-time job offers for students even before graduation. The college supports both the greater community and experiential student learning by providing free tax help to low and moderate-income taxpayers through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.
Exceptional Opportunities
Through flexible academic programs, collaborative and experiential learning, and global engagement, McDaniel prepares students for successful lives of leadership, service, and social responsibility. Following are the interesting opportunities for students at McDaniel:
- Center for Experience and Opportunity: It is a distinct one-stop shop that focuses on experiential learning and career development.
- Program in Innovation and Entrepreneurship: It allows students in any major to flourish in their entrepreneurial skills.
- Honors Program: It offers academic enrichment to students who become part of a community of scholars.
- Global Fellows: It is an academic and co-curricular opportunity that empowers students to explore the world and create a global portfolio.
- National Security Fellows Program: It provides students with robust knowledge, skills, and experience in national security.
- Dorsey Scholars: It is the highest academic honor at McDaniel for students chosen from the Honors applicant pool, with proper four-year guidance.
- Student Accessibility and Support Services (SASS): It assists all students with documented disabilities and works with each student on a case-by-case basis.
- The Green Terror Army ROTC Battalion: It is a tradition at the college since 1919 and is one of the oldest ROTC programs in the nation that gives students defense education.
Personality Development through Extracurricular
Along with the best academic courses, McDaniel arranges extracurricular programs for maximum student engagement. The college is a living-learning community with 85 percent of undergraduate students inhabiting the campus which provides scope for personality development through extracurricular activities. Students are involved in over 70 student organizations, intramural sports, and fraternities and sororities. Additionally, one-third of students compete in over 20 athletic teams in the NCAA Division III Centennial Conference.
Directing the Leadership Efforts
The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at McDaniel grants appropriate direction to college leadership efforts on behalf of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. It works to promote awareness about diversity and develops understanding within the larger campus, as well as fosters and advocates resources to students, faculty, and staff.
McDaniel is committed to access and affordability and takes seriously the responsibility of training a diverse student body. Around 40 percent of undergraduate students are from mixed backgrounds. The college has students with bicultural backgrounds who are part of Global Bridge. International students are supported by the International and Off-Campus Programs office of McDaniel.
Developing Entrepreneurial Skills
Since entrepreneurship is the backbone of the finance and the future of business management, McDaniel trains students for creating employment opportunities for future generations. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship program helps students to develop core entrepreneurial skills. Through this program, students have access to the college’s entrepreneur-in-residence, alumni connections, mini-grants, etc. The annual events for entrepreneurial skill development introduce competition among students for receiving funds for startups and help them get the best finance. McDaniel students can also choose to minor in entrepreneurship, major, or minor in marketing.
Future Plans
McDaniel College is planning to launch a few academic courses by keeping the growth of students in mind. Its Board of Trustees endorsed a new five-year strategic plan that includes the introduction of new undergraduate programs in addition to graduate-level programs, such as a master’s degree in computer science.
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