Since 2021, as part of research conducted by the Government, Health, and Non-Profit Area of SDA Bocconi, we have mapped the public accounting educational offerings of Italian public and private universities. Our goal was to understand how evidence-based the master's degree courses and postgraduate and executive programs in business economics are, relative to the reference literature, and how practice-oriented they are for the challenges ahead.
To assess the alignment of the teachings with academic debate and the new needs of public administrations, we utilized Jens Heiling’s analysis from his 2020 article “Time to rethink public sector accounting education? A practitioner’s perspective.” In the article, Heiling identifies seven key topics that should be reconsidered in public sector accounting education. From a public professional’s perspective, these are the areas most in need of updating to meet ongoing reform processes:
1. Public Sector Accounting Standards
2. Management accounting
3. Government finance statistics
4. Consolidated financial statements
5. Non-financial reporting
6. Public-private partnership
7. Digitalization and open government
The resulting picture is disappointing, both quantitatively and qualitatively. At the master’s level, there are 42 courses available, while 44 public accounting courses exist at the postgraduate and executive levels. On average, universities offering courses in this area provide 1.4 courses at the undergraduate level and 1.6 at the postgraduate and executive levels, leaving students with limited choices and opportunities for deeper exploration.
The mapping also shows a geographic divide, especially at the undergraduate level, between the three main regions of Italy, with northern universities offering more courses. Public accounting also remains a “national” topic in education, as courses taught in English – accessible to non-Italian students – are rare at the undergraduate level (only 8 out of 42) and non-existent at the postgraduate and executive levels.