BUFFALO, NY – Canisius University alumni ranked second (2nd), overall, in New York State on the 2016 CPA exam cycle, with a 75 percent pass rate in the category of medium programs (institutions with between 21 – 60 candidates). The 2016 exam is the most recent to be published by the National Association of the State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). The results are for graduates of bachelor and graduate programs who sat for the exam for the first time, within one year of graduation.
On the individual sections of the first-time takers of the 2016 CPA exam, Canisius participants ranked first (1st) in New York State on the auditing portion of the exam with a 71.4 percent pass rate (medium program) and first (1st) in New York State on the financial accounting and reporting portion of the exam with a 75 percent pass rate.
“The Accounting Department at Canisius University is very proud of its graduates,” said Ian J. Redpath, JD, LLM, chair of the Accounting Department. “These results continue the long tradition of excellence of our graduates and are an exclamation point to the quality of an accounting education at Canisius.”
Most notable among the 2016 CPA rankings is Canisius alumna Paige E. Burkard ’15, MBA ’16, who received the Elijah Watt Sells Award from the American Institute of CPAs. The prestigious award is conferred upon CPA candidates who earned a cumulative average score above 95.5 across all four sections of the CPA exam, passed all four sections of the exam on their first attempts and completed testing in 2016. Burkard was one of 58 candidates out of a total 102,323 nationwide who met the criteria to receive the Elijah Watt Sells Award.
“We are extremely proud of Paige’s outstanding accomplishment,” said Daniel J. Borgia, PhD, dean of the Richard J. Wehle School of Business. “Our exceptional accounting faculty, rigorous program standards and real-world experiences equate to successful graduates who are in high demand by employers in Western New York and nationally as well.”
The Department of Accounting is part of the Richard J. Wehle School of Business, which is accredited by the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
One of 28 Jesuit universities in the nation, Canisius is the premier private university in Western New York.
-30-
