USU School of Accountancy Students Head to Orlando for National Competition

A team of graduate students from the School of Accountancy at Utah State University was among the top six nation-wide universities in the Deloitte & Touche Tax Challenge. The team now heads to the national competition in Orlando, Florida, Nov. 22-24.


The students participating on the graduate team are Tyler Alleman, Chad Evans, Jared Thompson, and Mason Niederhauser. Their faculty adviser is Vance Grange. Last year, both the graduate and undergraduate teams from Utah State University qualified to participate in the national competition.

"We are really proud of them. This is the second year in a row that our team has gone to nationals," said Grange. "We hope we do well."

The 2002 Deloitte & Touche Tax Challenge regional case study competition, held October 18-19 at eight universities across the country, brought together teams from some of the country’s top tax programs to test their tax knowledge and win scholarships and cash prizes. The graduate team from the School of Accountancy at Utah State was selected as one of six teams to move on to national competition.

Approximately 60 teams from 40 universities participated in the regional competition. The other graduate teams in the national competition are Baylor University, Brigham Young University, University of Denver, University of Kansas and the University of Southern California.

Teams of up to four students were given five hours to complete a complex, hypothetical case study that required them to identify issues and consider alternative tax treatments for a fictitious client situation. The scope of topics covered in the cases and the level of technical complexity was consistent with a typical first course in taxation.

The upcoming national competition will award members of the top team a $1,000 scholarship each as well as $10,000 for their school. The national second place team will be awarded $500 per student and $5,000 for their school, and all other participating team members will receive $250 each and $2,500 for their school.

Contact: Vance Grange (435) 797-2702
Writer: D’Artagnon Wells (435) 797-1350