Evaluating the "Post-Course-Competition-Certificate" Collaborative Education Model in Digital-Age Accounting Education: An Empirical Study of Three Applied Universities in Yunnan

Zhen Zhao

doi:10.70088/g1hxf970

Authors

Zhen Zhao Baoshan University, Baoshan, China Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70088/g1hxf970

Keywords:

digital transformation, applied universities, accounting program, Post-Course-Competition-Certificate (PCCC), talent cultivation model

Abstract

Big data and artificial intelligence are reshaping accounting and finance practice, altering both corporate financial management and the competencies expected of accounting roles. Applied universities offering accounting programs must therefore adapt their talent cultivation to the industry's digital transformation. This study evaluates the implementation effectiveness and determinants of the Post-Course-Competition-Certificate (PCCC) model, an approach increasingly adopted in Chinese applied higher education. Based on a survey of 345 valid responses from accounting students at three applied universities in Yunnan Province, we construct an analytical framework around the model's four components-job alignment, curriculum, skills competitions, and vocational certificates-and their integration. The analysis employs reliability testing, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, multicollinearity diagnostics, multiple linear regression, and ANOVA. The results indicate that the survey instrument has acceptable reliability and that students generally hold a favorable view of the current PCCC model. Among the factors examined, the degree of integration across the four components is the strongest predictor of cultivation outcomes. Job-requirement alignment and curriculum design also exert significant positive effects, whereas the independent contributions of skills competitions and vocational certificates do not reach conventional significance levels. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of the PCCC model in applied university settings depends less on strengthening any single component in isolation than on forging coherent links among job demands, curriculum delivery, competitive practice, and credentialing-so that the model functions as an integrated, synergistic system rather than a collection of separate activities.

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