By The Numbers

Nicholls State accounting students are passing the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination at the highest rate of all Louisiana schools.

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy reported on state collegiate performances with NSU leading all average pass rates in the state and scoring higher than national averages on three sections out of four included on the exam in 2004.

Students passed all parts at a higher rate than the state averages.

Nearly doubling the state average of 31.8 percent, 60 percent of NSU students passed the Accounting and Reporting section, according to the NASBA. Where many students struggled to complete the Business Environments and Concepts section, last in sequence of the four, NSU graduates passed 30 percent compared to the states 28.9 percent.

In the Auditing and Attestation, and additional Financial Accounting and Reporting sections NSU’s percentages fell at 50 percent versus 43 percent statewide, and 57.1 percent versus 49 percent statewide, respectively.

“The performance of our graduates on the Uniform CPA examinations continues to speak well of the education our accounting majors receive here at Nicholls,” said Dr. Shawn Mauldin, dean of the College of Business Administration, in a release. “We are extremely proud of our graduates and of our outstanding faculty who prepare these students well for the business world.”

Originally released at the end of August, averages were revised and re-released the last week of September.

The CPA exam is a nationally standardized testing system required of students upon graduation from an accredited college or university in order to become a licensed CPA.

Although a student graduating with an accounting degree is able to practice without licensing, obtaining CPA status provides additional opportunities: working for top accounting firms or starting a private practice.

According to Dr. Michael Chiasson, interim department head of Accounting and Information Systems, all four sections – Auditing and Attestation, Business Environments and Concepts, Accounting and Reporting (ARE), and Financial Accounting and Reporting (FARE) – must be completed in succession within 18 months of each other. Students have a five-year window to attempt the exam after completing either undergraduate or graduate school.

Kandace Mauldin, a 2004 NSU accounting graduate, began taking the CPA in June of that year and looks to secure her licensing, completing her last step – the FARE section – this month. Mauldin attested to the success she found at NSU.

“The professors and were helpful in preparing you for the CPA exams by including exam questions and examples in class,” she said.

Mauldin works for the accounting firm of Bourgeois Bennett L.L.C. at the Houma office on West Tunnel Boulevard, but says becoming licensed will add to her career. Bourgeois Bennett has two addition locations, serving Thibodaux and New Orleans.

“What pushed me to take the exam is the sense of accomplishment that comes with it – to say that I have an accounting degree and I am a licensed CPA is what pushed me to succeed,” said Mauldin.

NSU officials accredit success of the accounting program to the resolve of the students paired with faculty guidance, to the kind of success.

“The fact that our students have achieved the high pass rate is testimony to the quality of education offered here at Nicholls in the College of Business Administration,” said Chiasson.

Andrea Carlson can be reached at (985) 876-3008 or andrea@tri-parishtimes.com.