This July Oregon State College of Business student Scott Schaub went to his parents’ home and started one of the many rituals of returning students: He opened the stack of piled-up mail left in his old bedroom.
Tucked away in the pile he found a two-month-old letter announcing he earned a $10,000 scholarship from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
“It turns out the letter had been sent in May, yet for some reason my parents failed to mention they had placed all of this mail in my room,” Schaub said. “I don’t think I will ever let them live that one down.”
Congress established the PCAOB as part of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The nonprofit oversees the audits of public companies to protect investors and the public interest.
The act also established a scholarship for accounting students funded by penalties paid to the board.
This is the third year the PCAOB has awarded the scholarships. Each year it selects institutions from across the country to nominate students for the honor, and this year chose Oregon State as one of 77 to participate.
Oregon State Professor of Accounting Roger Graham was impressed by Schaub’s enthusiasm in one of his classes and nominated the then-junior for the scholarship.
“Scott’s one of those really smart students the College of Business gets, but what I liked most was how outgoing and engaged he was in class,” Graham said. “He’s the kind of student professors really like because he talks in class, engages and really tries to understand the material.”
Schaub, a dual major in accounting and finance, said he stumbled into accounting after taking his first introductory course in the College of Business.
“I really enjoyed the fact that the subject matter is applicable to all types of businesses and I felt it would open doors to a variety of industries,” he said.
Schaub spent the summer interning for Geffen Mesher in Portland, but kept up with Graham to see if there was any news of the scholarship.
“We kept emailing back and forth, have you heard anything?” Graham said. “Then he sent me this link that said Oregon State had received a scholarship and wanted to know if maybe someone else had gotten it.”
That was when Schaub went back home and found the notice, officially naming him as a scholarship recipient. This is the first time PCAOB has awarded the scholarship to an Oregon State student.
“To be honest, I had no expectation of being awarded the scholarship, but was thankful and flattered to have been considered.”
