“I’m from Richmond, Virginia,” Luke Thomas (M.S. in Accounting ’26) says. “So this is kind of like coming home.”
For Thomas, enrolling in the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce for graduate study carried both personal and professional significance. A Wofford College graduate who majored in Accounting and minored in Environmental Studies, Thomas returned to Virginia looking for a program that felt familiar in scale but elevated in scope.
McIntire’s nine-month M.S. in Accounting Program is delivering exactly that.
A Familiar Community with a New Level of Intensity
Thomas’s undergraduate experience at Wofford shaped not only what he studied, but how he wanted to learn. “I knew I wanted to go to a small school,” he says. “That was really important to me.”
That preference carried through his graduate search. “The Comm School itself feels very similar to what Wofford feels like,” Thomas explains. “There were probably 30 or so Accounting majors at Wofford, and there are about 53 of us in the M.S. in Accounting Program. It’s pretty comparable.”
That sense of community made the transition easier. “People know who you are,” he says. “As the semester’s gone on, I’ve really felt that here, just like I did at Wofford.”
What’s different, Thomas notes, is the level of expectation. “What we’re doing is very different. That’s just the nature of [the transition from] undergrad to grad school,” he says. “There’s a lot more responsibility, a lot more professional focus.”
Learning to Communicate, Collaborate, and Lead
One of the most noticeable shifts for Thomas has been the program’s emphasis on communication and teamwork. “The curriculum here is much more testing communication skills,” he says. “It’s a lot more group-oriented and team-oriented.”
Faculty play a key role in guiding that process. “They’re really good at giving us space to figure things out, but also being there when we need them,” Thomas explains. “Some of that problem-solving, you need to work through it on your own. They’re great at that balance.”
That balance mirrors the professional environments Thomas is preparing to enter. After interning at EY in Richmond, he accepted a full-time offer and will return to the firm following graduation.
“When I think about it, the way this program operates actually feels a lot like what my office will be like,” he says of the office’s smaller size, everyone’s familiarity with one another, and the distribution of the workload. “You’re working on similar things, but everyone has their own responsibilities.”
Leadership development has also taken on new meaning. “We had leadership opportunities at Wofford, but they were mostly outside the classroom,” Thomas says. “Here, we’re really digging into it in a professional context.”
Courses taught by Professors Andrea Roberts and Marcia Pentz stand out in that regard. “We talk a lot about the professional environment,” he says. “Having a full class dedicated to that is definitely different.”
Expanding Skill Sets Through Data and Applied Learning
Perhaps the biggest addition to Thomas’s skill set has come through McIntire’s data analytics curriculum.
“That’s something I really wasn’t exposed to at Wofford,” he says. “It’s a liberal arts education, so you can only fit so much in.”
At McIntire, data is woven throughout the program. “We have a Data Management class, and then in Audit, we really dive into it with examples,” Thomas explains. “They go hand in hand.”
The experience has shifted how he views his own capabilities. “From my internship, being able to do this stuff wasn’t expected,” he says. “But now, if I can pull it out of my back pocket, it’s a clear advantage.”
More importantly, the intimidation factor is gone. “I’m not scared about it anymore,” Thomas says. “If someone asked me to figure something out, I feel like I could at least work through it.”
That confidence extends beyond data. Thomas chose the Financial Reporting & Assurance Track to align with his career in audit, a decision shaped by his internship experience. “It just matched where I expected to be jobwise,” he says.
Why Wofford Students Thrive at McIntire
Thomas has already found himself recommending the program: His former Wofford roommate will join the M.S. in Accounting cohort next year.
“Wofford does a great job at giving you that baseline accounting knowledge,” Thomas says. “You could honestly go straight into work with what you learn there.”
McIntire, he explains, builds deliberately on that base. “This program pushes you in different ways,” he says. “You’re applying what you know more, adding the data side, and really developing communication and leadership skills.”
“Wofford lays the foundation,” Thomas adds. “This takes it a step further and really prepares you for what the workplace actually looks like.”
