In December, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) announced the CPA Exam pass rates statistics, and The University of Texas at Austin trailblazed to the top of the CPA Exam’s pass rates from first-time test takers at large collegiate programs (60 or more test takers).


The top first-time CPA Exam pass rates by large collegiate programs for 2019 are:

  1. University of Texas at Austin — 358 candidates, 89.5% pass rate
  2. Brigham Young University — 273 candidates, 89.4% pass rate
  3. Wake Forest University — 82 candidates, 88.8% pass rate
  4. Boston College — 129 candidates, 88.3% pass rate
  5. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor — 77 candidates, 88.2% pass rate
  6. University of Florida — 248 candidates, 86.4% pass rate
  7. University of Virginia — 96 candidates, 84.8% pass rate
  8. Texas A&M University — 351 candidates, 82.9% pass rate
  9. University of Wisconsin-Madison — 227 candidates, 82.9% pass rate
  10. Gonzaga University — 118 candidates, 82.4% pass rate

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) also named 133 winners of the 2019 Elijah Watt Sells Award. This award recognizes test takers who scored a cumulative average score above 95.50 across all four sections of the CPA exam, passed all four sections of the exam on their first attempt, and completed their testing in 2019. The University of Texas at Austin had twelve (yes, twelve!) Sells Award winners in 2019:

  • Daniel Chang (integrated MPA ‘19)
  • Bryan Davis (traditional MPA ‘16)
  • James Hall (Economics MPA ‘19)
  • Kara Killingsworth (integrated MPA ‘19)
  • Jerry Lam (integrated MPA ‘19)
  • Adam Landefeld (integrated MPA ‘19)
  • Collyn Robison (integrated MPA ‘19)
  • Travis Sakos (integrated MPA ‘18)
  • Kyle Schoen (integrated MPA ‘19)
  • Adam Schor (integrated MPA ‘19)
  • Wei-Ning Tsai (traditional MPA ‘19)
  • Alec Weissman (integrated MPA ‘19)


Section pass rates* for all 55 jurisdictions in 2019 are:

  • 51% for AUD
  • 60% for BEC
  • 46% for FAR
  • 56% for REG

Section pass rates** for UT Austin Candidates in 2019 are:

  • 81% for AUD
  • 92% for BEC
  • 76% for FAR
  • 85% for REG

Section pass rates** for all other Texas colleges & universities in 2019 are:

  • 53% for AUD
  • 59% for BEC
  • 48% for FAR
  • 58% for REG

 

*All first-time test takers in 2019
**All test takers (first time or otherwise) in Texas in 2019