| This study is designed to examine the relationship between selected academic variables and success of first time candidates on the Uniform CPA Examination in Pennsylvania. It is predicated on the theory that there is some relationship between the selected academic variables and success of first time candidates on the Uniform CPA Examination in Pennsylvania. The subjects were first time candidates for the November 2000 CPA exam in Pennsylvania.; The dependent variables were scores on the Auditing section, the Law and Professional Responsibilities section, the Financial Accounting and Reporting section, the Accounting and Reporting section and the number of sections passed in the first sitting. The independent variables included total semester hours of higher education, total semester hours in all accounting courses beyond accounting principles, total semester hours in financial accounting beyond accounting principles, semester hours of auditing, semester hours of business law, semester hours of taxation, semester hours of cost/managerial accounting, total undergraduate GPA, undergraduate accounting GPA, whether a candidate held a graduate degree, whether a candidate took a review course, and hours of study.; The methods included statistics for description, central tendency and variability for the dependent and independent variables, simple linear regressions comparing the independent variables to each of the dependent variables, multiple regressions to obtain a predictive model for each of the dependent variables, and ANOVAs for nominal variables compared to the dependent variables.; The results yielded simple regressions and ANOVAs showing correlations between the dependent variables and certain independent variables. The results also yielded prediction models for each of the dependent variables based on the multiple regressions that accounted for between 47 percent and 60 percent of the variability of the dependent variables.; Conclusions include that exam score can be improved by study time, review courses, total undergraduate GPA, and semester hours of specific subjects. Whether a graduate degree improves exam success was inconclusive. The requirement of 150 hours of higher education was called into question by the researcher as well as the content covered in college curricula to better match the current needs of the field of professional accountancy. |
