As a full-service accounting and financial recruiting firm, Accountants One is constantly being asked to produce the best CPA’s. Our search for excellence has led us to ask two ongoing questions: 1) Which Georgia Colleges and Universities are producing the greatest number of CPA candidates, and 2) Which Georgia Colleges and Universities are most successful in producing CPA’s? With the help of NASBA’s Candidate Performance On the Uniform CPA Examination, we have attempted to answer these questions, and thought you’d be interested in the results.
WHICH SCHOOL PRODUCES THE GREATEST NUMBER OF CPA EXAM CANDIDATES?
|
College or University
|
Number of CPA exam candidates for the year
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
|
212
|
|
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
|
129
|
|
KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY
|
94
|
|
GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
|
66
|
|
EMORY UNIVERSITY
|
56
|
|
VALDOSTA STATE UNIVERSITY
|
54
|
|
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
|
35
|
|
STATE UNIVERSITY OF WEST GEORGIA
|
33
|
|
GEORGIA COLLEGE STATE UNIVERSITY
|
32
|
|
OGLETHORPE UNIVERSITY
|
29
|
It is interesting to note that this top ten list makes up 77% of the 953 total CPA examination candidates for the year in the State of Georgia.
It is much more difficult to decide which institution has the greatest success rate. In order to analyze the data, we made the arguable decision to define “success” as the number of candidates passing either all or some parts of the CPA test. For simplification we included all candidates – from first-time candidates without advanced degrees to repeat candidates with advanced degrees.
|
College or University
|
% passing all or some parts
|
Total # of candidates that passed all or some
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
|
80.2
|
170
|
|
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
|
63.6
|
82
|
|
KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY
|
55.3
|
52
|
|
GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
|
60.6
|
40
|
|
EMORY UNIVERSITY
|
83.9
|
47
|
|
VALDOSTA STATE UNIVERSITY
|
59.3
|
32
|
|
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
|
82.9
|
29
|
|
STATE UNIVERSITY OF WEST GEORGIA
|
51.5
|
17
|
|
GEORGIA COLLEGE STATE UNIVERSITY
|
65.6
|
21
|
|
OGLETHORPE UNIVERSITY
|
69.0
|
20
|
By using our definition of success, The University of Georgia ranks #1 in our search for the best producer of CPA’s, producing far more successful candidates than any other school. However, if we were to change the definition to be in terms of percentage passing, Emory University was the best, ranking at nearly 84%, with Georgia Tech a close second at 83%.
All data was compiled from the NASBA’s Candidate Performance On the Uniform CPA Examination, 2006 Edition. All data was calculated with care and any miscalculation is unintentional.
