MBA students expect the lowest amount of pay from accounting, auditing and tax work, according to a Fortune survey.

According to the survey (which you can check out in full here), MBA students had the lowest pay expectations of the 47 sectors surveyed.

They said they expected to be paid a base salary of $63,695 one year after graduation compared to class mates who went into venture capital ($107,919), investment management ($100,986) or investment banking ($98,877).

It doesn't get much better with time either. Five years after graduation, they expected to be paid $111,135 compared with, say, the venture capitalist on $251,128.

Of course, accountants aren't exactly in the poor-house.

Beancounters have been cleaning up big time over the past few years because of Sarbanes-Oxley and increased governance regulations in other countries. It's something I've examined here, here, here and here.

Still, the Fortune survey is a concern because of the accounting skills shortage. It might help explain why there aren't enough people going into the profession.