There may be no more important variable in the process of obtaining a doctorate in accounting than the funding issue, once one has made the decision to enter a program. One must be cautious in the tradeoff made between earning a stipend and getting through a doctoral program. Some individuals will attempt to teach too many courses in order to earn more money. Instead, more emphasis should be placed upon getting through the doctoral program. Teaching three courses and taking three courses at the doctoral level may be an impossible load.
Financial support is critical.
Receiving outside financial support may be highly probable or highly improbable. Information regarding this should be obtained as early as possible in order to more clearly evaluate the cash flow needs the individual candidate will have. Surprisingly, few candidates are even aware of differing images and perceptions of doctoral programs. Yet, most doctoral programs do have images which are relatively well known in academe. The candidate should talk to numerous faculty regarding this issue.