Accounting students demonstrate prowess

KU business school students rank high in passing CPA exam on first attempt

Top 10

Kansas University just may end up playing Wisconsin in the Midwest regional final Sunday in Detroit for a spot in college basketball’s Final Four. But KU already has topped the Badgers in terms of the rate of accounting students – those without advanced degrees – passing the 2007 edition of the CPA exam on the first try:

1. University of Texas at Austin, 76.8 percent

2. (tie) Texas A&M University, University of Iowa, 73.3 percent

4. Kansas University, 72 percent

5. University of Georgia, 71.7 percent

6. University of Wisconsin, 70.3 percent

7. University of Virginia, 68.4 percent

8. Auburn University, 67.4 percent

9. (tie) University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Washington, Southern Methodist University, 66.7 percent

Kansas University accounting students are good at crunching numbers, and it doesn’t take long for them to prove their proficiency.

That’s the lesson to be taken from recent results compiled by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, which oversees the national exam for certified public accountants.

KU’s School of Business ranked No. 4 in the nation in terms of the rate of students without advanced degrees who passed the test on their first attempt. At KU, 72 percent of such students passed on the first try.

The rate is well above average, considering that most people who take the exam do so more than once. Of the 69,259 candidates who took at least one portion of the 2007 edition of the CPA exam, the year for which the most recent data is available, only 21,893 were doing so for the first time.

“This ranking reflects well on the quality of the accounting program and the KU School of Business,” said Paul Mason, a senior lecturer in forensic accounting at KU. “There is no question that we have some of the best students in the country, and this ranking helps highlight that fact.”

Corporate recruiters from the area regularly seek out KU accounting students for employment, Mason said, and students often pursue jobs in Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas.

The latest ranking not only should help open more opportunities for students looking outside the Midwest for work, he said.

There’s also the matter of drawing even more interest from people looking to pick up accounting knowledge on Mount Oread.

“Being able to offer this ranking as evidence could help in our recruiting of quality students,” he said.