Critical Perspectives on Accounting 20 (2009) 614–634 Efficiency in accounting education: evidence from Turkish Universities Orhan Celik a,∗ , Alaattin Ecer b a Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Political Sciences, Ankara University, Turkey b Capital Markets Board of Turkey, Turkey Received 19 March 2006; received in revised form 19 August 2007; accepted 1 January 2008 Abstract It is important to see efficiency of accounting education in order to fully understand the operational environment of companies. In this study, the 45 public universities in Turkey was investigated by using Data Envelopment Analysis [DEA]. In order, some definitions for the outputs and inputs are required for the model. The criteria developed by American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is used as definitions for inputs, is used and the result of the Selection Exam for Public Personnel [SEPP] is used to measure efficiency in accounting education. According to our results, Turkish universities are successful in producing the most appropriate output. They are usually using their input components in a favorable way. According to our model accounting education delivered in the undergraduate programs of the higher education system in Turkey is generally effective. But universities are using resources excessively to get the output. On the departmental basis, Turkish universities are technically effective to a great extent. It is determined that the departments of labor economics, industrial relations and partially public finance are more effective departments. According to resource usage, while the most effective departments are departments of public finance, departments of business administration are the most ineffective ones. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Accounting education; DEA; Efficiency; Higher education; Turkish Accounting education ∗ Corresponding author at: A.U. Siyasal Bilgiler Fakultesi, Isletme Bolumu, 06590 Cebeci/Ankara, Turkey. Tel.: +90 312 319 77 20; fax: +90 312 319 77 38. E-mail address: ocelik@politics.ankara.edu.tr (O. Celik). 1045-2354/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.cpa.2008.01.007