Michigan State Spartans Shine in 2026 Michigan Accountancy Foundation Scholarship Awards

Three Michigan State University accounting students have been named among the 2026 recipients of the Michigan Accountancy Foundation (MAF) Scholarship, a prestigious award that supports aspiring CPAs across the state of Michigan. The winners, Stephanie Harizanova, Lindsey Wendling, and William Pryce, claimed three of the nine scholarships awarded this year, a sweep that speaks volumes about the caliber of students coming out of MSU’s Department of Accounting and Information Systems.

The MAF Scholarship, administered through the Michigan Association of CPAs (MICPA), provides financial support for tuition and fees to full-time accounting students who are on track to become licensed Michigan CPAs. All applicants also receive two months of access to the Surgent Essentials Pass CPA Review program, while recipients are granted unlimited access, a meaningful resource as they prepare for one of the profession’s most demanding milestones.

Shannon Mulally, Director of MSU’s Master of Science in Accounting (MSA) program and the Master of Professional Accounting and Analytics program, says the recognition is well-earned. “These three students actually are some of our top students in the Masters of Accounting,” she noted. “They all have graduate assistantships in the fall, high GPAs, and really strong involvement in activities, outreach, and engagement.”

All three incoming MSA students exemplify a profile that goes beyond academic achievement. Mulally pointed to their service as undergraduate learning assistants in high-enrollment courses like MKT 250 and ACC 201—classes with anywhere from 600 to 1,200 students—as evidence of their commitment to giving back. “It shows their investment that they’re not only getting that education, but giving back,” she said.

Their path forward is equally ambitious. In the coming year, the three scholarship recipients will balance graduate assistantships, master’s-level coursework, and preparation for the CPA exam all at the same time. MSU’s shared enrollment program, which allows students to take up to nine credits at undergraduate tuition rates, has helped ease that transition for some of the cohort, reducing the number of credits needed at the graduate level and making it more feasible to juggle all three demands.

The MAF Scholarship is funded by CPA firms, professional organizations, and individual CPAs who are paying it forward. Mulally sees that tradition of support as central to the program’s value: “They’re paying it forward so that students who are either just getting their bachelor’s degree or doing their master’s have an opportunity to have access to that education.”

MSU’s relationship with the MICPA and the Michigan Accountancy Foundation runs deep, built over decades of collaboration that includes an annual Accounting Day for high school students and ongoing efforts to connect students with professional networks. With a near-perfect job placement rate for MSA graduates in recent years, the department has established itself as a reliable pipeline into the accounting profession, and the 2026 MAF winners are the latest proof of that.

“As we’ve always seen with our scholarship recipients, they make their mark in the accounting profession as well as the business profession,” Mulally said. “These students deserve the recognition for their hard work.”

For Harizanova, Wendling, and Pryce, the scholarship is more than financial relief. It is a recognition of years of hard work, community involvement, and dedication to a profession that demands both intellectual rigor and personal integrity—a signal that their best years are still ahead.