A Study on the Model of Competency Based Liberal Accounting Education for the 21 Century

[Purpose]The present study intends to explore possibilities of education on accounting through liberal educational courses in universities to cultivate the human resources required for students in the 21st century. [Methodology]The association of the contents of liberal educational courses of accounting with the cultivation of the four core competencies (4C: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skill, Creativity, Communication Skill, and Collaboration Skill) was examined. Next, the concrete ways of cultivating the core competencies, in terms of knowledge, function, and value, were developed, by exploiting the approach of cultivating ‘Special Capabilities in the Liberal Educational Courses of Accounting’. [Findings]The contents of liberal educational courses on accounting were found to have positive effects on the 4C of students. The matrix of association of liberal educational courses on accounting with major courses of students in departments of non－business administration was presented to facilitate the liberal education of accounting, with a focus on the cultivation of the 4C of students. [Implications]The model of liberal educational courses on accounting will positively contribute to the contents and the methods of accounting education desired by contemporary Korean society by influencing conventional major educational courses of accounting.