CPA Exam Performance and Environmental and Other Opportunity Factors

ABSTRACT While many colleges and universities publicize CPA examination pass rates as evidence of having a high-quality accounting program, some have questioned whether program-specific characteristics are legitimate predictors of examination success. To examine this issue, we empirically investigate the link between accounting faculty characteristics and performance on the CPA examination. We examine the results from nearly 700,000 first-time exam sittings taken during the period 2005–2013 and find that faculty research and teaching specialization has a significant impact on CPA exam performance. That is, when a program has a relatively higher percentage of accounting faculty with expertise in a particular content area tested on the exam (e.g., auditing), graduates achieve higher scores on the related exam section (e.g., AUD). We also find that faculty research productivity and CPA certification status are positively related to candidate exam performance. We believe these results contribute to the existing literature on the determinants of CPA exam success and also provide important insights to those responsible for accounting faculty staffing and development.

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Bridging The CPA Exam Gap: Do Internships Matter?

American Journal of Business Education (AJBE) ◽

10.19030/ajbe.v13i1.10326 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 9-18

Author(s):

Stephanie Hairston ◽

Charles Harter ◽

Britton McKay

Keyword(s):

Graduate Students ◽

Practical Experience ◽

Pass Rate ◽

Exam Performance ◽

Public Accounting ◽

Cpa Exam ◽

Average Students

In this paper we consider whether experience gained on the job through an internship results in knowledge that can help with passing the CPA exam. It would seem that a candidate for the CPA exam would be better prepared if they had the combination of education and practical experience. We examine the CPA exam performance of 72 graduate students that completed a public accounting internship prior to sitting for the CPA exam compared to 98 graduate students that did not complete an internship in public accounting. Our analysis indicates that on average students completing internships score higher on all parts of the CPA exam. In addition, on average, students completing internships had a higher overall pass rate for each section of the exam, with the pass rate for the Regulation (REG) section being significantly higher for students that have completed internships; we also find that on average students with internships pass 2 sections of the exam prior to graduation as compared to 1.69 for students that have not completed internships.

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