A Degree For Advancement

Master of Accountancy alumna, Lucy Ferrari wearing a blackshirt with brown and green blurry background
November 20, 2023
Jenna Turner ('16) | Graduate Enrollment Management

Lucy Ferrari had big plans for her accounting career. She did not want to stay in an entry level position for long, and knew a master’s degree would help, so she took advantage of Gonzaga’s accelerated Master of Accountancy (M.Acc) program for Gonzaga undergrads.

It paid off. Ferrari finished her master’s, started her new job and after passing the CPA, she was made Senior Internal Auditor at Viasat, a California communication company.

She credits M.Acc with giving her an edge. 

“I think it was really that master’s degree that helped me get the opportunities to be higher visibility, which is what I wanted. I would have never been able to report to a director then or now. It’s just not how my company works when you’re coming in. I got involved in projects that I never would have been involved in if I wasn’t doing that program.”  

Ferrari also credits M.Acc with boosting her ability to solve problems and find creative solutions.  

“I took Advanced Accounting Theory and all we were doing was going and looking at the accounting guidance and seeing how we would solve a very subjective but real-life problem. It’s a class unlike anything anyone I know had taken and gave me a skill that I don’t think I could have learned anywhere else,” said Ferrari.” said Ferrari. 

Other courses including Audit Analytics exposed Ferrari to new ways to tackle complex problems engaging a logical approach while utilizing technology, something she feels she would not have gained without the master’s degree.

But more than her newfound skillset, M.Acc gave Ferrari a deeper love of her chosen field. 

“I think the master’s program helped me gain more passion for accounting than I had before. It really helped me know what I wanted to do in the future.” 

Ferrari continued, “My master’s was so rewarding just because of how fun it was and how actually interested I was. We were always doing things that I felt like I was going to be able to apply.” 

 

Applications are open for the Spring 2024 start date of Gonzaga's Master of Accountancy. Apply by December 11th here.