AICPA awards first college scholarship to North Carolina high school student.

On May 28, Ashley Forte, 17, a senior at Hillside High School's Business and Finance Academy in Durham, N.C., became the first recipient of a student scholarship sponsored by the AICPA and the AICPA Foundation. The finance academy, through a partnership with the AICPA, helps students achieve academic excellence in accounting, finance and general business topics, and encourages students to pursue careers in accounting after they graduate.

Forte plans to study accounting and finance at the Calloway School of Accountancy, Wake Forest University. To be eligible for the scholarship, a...