Scholarship awards totaling $42,000 brightened the beginning of fall semester for eight Jindal School accounting students on the receiving end of those funds.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), a nonprofit corporation Congress established to oversee audits of public companies, granted the two largest scholarships, $10,000 each for the 2021-2022 academic year to senior and Professional Program in Accounting student Helena Tran and master’s-degree PPA student and teaching assistant Odera Udolisa.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), a national professional organization for CPAs, conferred two of its AICPA Scholarships for Minority Accounting Students — each valued at $5,000 — to Diego Figueroa, a master’s-degree PPA student and teaching assistant, and Lucy Ko, a double graduate-degree candidate in accounting and information technology and management.

TXCPA Dallas, the local chapter of a statewide professional association that serves about 6,200 CPA members in Dallas and 13 surrounding counties, awarded $3,000 each to four graduate PPA students: Irene Chen, Zahra Kothia, Bailey Stone and Juliet Tosto.

“The Dallas CPA and the AICPA awards are meant to encourage students to become certified public accountants,” said Tiffany Bortz, associate coordinator of JSOM’s Accounting Area, a professor of practice, director of the PPA and a CPA herself, “while the PCAOB is focused on investing in the education of future auditors — accountants who perform a critical role in the financial reporting and oversight process.”