Hope accounting senior Erin McIntyre of Munster, Ind. has been selected to receive a $10,000 scholarship for the 2011-12 academic year from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), a national organization established by Congress to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect investors and the public interest by promoting informative, accurate and independent audit reports.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 provided that funds generated from the collection of monetary penalties imposed by the PCAOB must be used to fund a merit scholarship program for students in accredited accounting degree programs to provide a source of funding to encourage outstanding undergraduate and graduate students to pursue a career in auditing.

There were 52 scholarships granted nationwide for the 2011-12 academic year. Hope College established a Professional CPA Program specifically for students pursuing careers in public accounting and auditing.

McIntyre will graduate in May of 2012. She completed an audit internship with the Rehmann Group last spring where she was responsible for conducting audit planning, audit research, compliance testing of internal controls, and various other audit procedures necessary to complete independent audits.

McIntyre is currently employed as a Business Planning and Finance intern at Amway Corporation for the summer. She has also served as a Financial and Managerial Accounting lab and grading assistant, and as an accounting tutor.

She was on the Dance Marathon Finance Committee and will serve as a member of the Hope College Business Club Leadership team next fall.