Nebraska Business Focus Program students gain priceless knowledge from college-level class

September 3, 2025

Nebraska Business Focus Program students like Trey are gaining valuable career assets from an experienced accounting professional this fall.
 
Steven Hegemann, an associate professor of practice in accountancy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is lending his decades of expertise to juniors and seniors in the Nebraska Business Accounting Differentiated class. The course is part of a focus program pathway that provides students with a large amount of educational income.
 
Trey chose to apply to the focus program - embedded at Standing Bear High School in partnership with Nebraska’s College of Business - because of his interest in business operations. He has enjoyed learning about behind-the-scenes aspects of business such as general ledgers, journal entries and accounting procedures. He has been able to access the college-level material without leaving his high school’s hallways.
 
“It’s really nice,” Trey said. “It’s more convenient, because I can just be here at the high school the whole time and still get a college education.”

 
One of the program’s unique values is having Big Ten Conference faculty members from UNL like Hegemann teach participants during the school day. He travels to Standing Bear three times each week to instruct the accounting class. The Fremont native shares his life experiences with students to illustrate the wide variety of potential accounting careers. He has monitored construction companies as they cleaned up debris from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City, provided forensic accounting and litigation support to companies and worked at an investment bank.
 
“The thing I try to get across with high school students is that there are a lot of misconceptions about what accountants do and what accountants are,” Hegemann said. “I try to highlight that there are a lot of different opportunities, and it kind of provides the foundation for everything in business. It opens a lot of doors and provides a lot of different opportunities.”

 
Andrew Christensen, the chairperson of Standing Bear’s business department, said the college-level accounting class is challenging students in a good way. Hegemann is teaching them what types of study habits and time management skills they will need to succeed at a college or university. They are also discovering how to analyze more complicated business lessons in many real-world scenarios.
 
“I think it’s important for every student,” Christensen said. “If their desire is to pursue post-secondary collegiate education, I think getting exposure to that in high school is enormous.”

Hegemann is covering various accounting principles, concepts and practices with students throughout the semester. Financial statement preparation and analysis, payroll systems, cost accounting, internal reporting and interpretation of financial information are all subjects on the syllabus.
 
During one class early in the year, Hegemann explained the relationship between assets, liability and equity in financial transactions. He showed students a sample chart of accounts and walked them through several examples of business agreements. He then asked them to identify how paying a year’s worth of rent in advance or selling shares of common stock would be classified in accounting terms.

 
Hegemann spent time after the lecture answering questions from students about their previous homework assignment. He guided them as they scrolled through a worksheet on their laptops and clarified how to find financial answers about several topics. Christensen said that personalized approach was a major benefit of taking the class in high school.
 
“This is a course at UNL that’s typically taught to a lecture hall of hundreds of students,” Christensen said. “Here, it’s a group of ten this year, and next year it’ll be a group of about 30. Having that smaller class size gives them a chance to interact with the professor and just take five minutes at the end of class to address questions on homework.”
 
Similar opportunities are happening in other Nebraska Business Focus Program classes as well. Students in grades 11-12 can explore subjects such as business management, entrepreneurship, sports and event marketing, macroeconomics and personal finance. Several courses offer opportunities for dual credit through UNL.
 
Trey said having a chance to strengthen his educational portfolio made it an easy decision to apply to the focus program.
 
“I’m hoping to get college credit from this,” Trey said. “I wanted to get a head start on life after high school.”
 
Hegemann secured a doctorate from Pace University in 2013 and has taught business courses at both UNL and Nebraska Wesleyan University. He has seen how early preparation from advanced high school courses can give students like Trey a leg up when they enter college.
 
“I think it’s important for them,” Hegemann said. “It makes the transition from high school to college a lot easier.”
 
Christensen said he believes students like Trey will see many benefits from being around skilled classroom leaders in the focus program.
 
“I think it’s a healthy challenge,” Christensen said. “I think this particular group of students recognizes the opportunity of having someone who has experience living it and working it teaching the class.”
 
Want to know how you can customize your high school experience with the Nebraska Business Focus Program at Standing Bear? Explore more on its website at business.lps.org.

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