Appendix C7 SMC RESEARCH BRIEF
2012 CPA Rates – SMC Performance
The National Association of State Boards of Accounting (NASBA) publishes annual data related
to performance on the uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam. The current document
describes the performance of Santa Monica College (SMC) candidates on the CPA exam for the
calendar year 2012, including numbers of candidates, pass rates for all sections, and ranking
among other colleges and universities. The CPA exam consists of four sections: AUD (auditing),
BEC (business environment and concepts), FAR (financial accounting and reporting), and REG
(regulation). The analyses only include institutions with five or more CPA candidates without
advanced (graduate) degrees. Students were identified as having attended an institution by the
boards of accountancy based on accounting hours.
Summary of Findings



1
A total of 30 candidates from SMC took at least one section of the CPA exam in 2012.
SMC is ranked first in terms of number of candidates taking the exam among all
community colleges in the United States and its territories;
On average, SMC has a higher CPA exam pass rate (44.1%) when compared with all
community colleges (national average, 36.7%) and CSU institutions (41.0%);
SMC had higher pass rates on all four sections of the exam when compared with all
community colleges, California community colleges, and the CSU institutions.
Office of Institutional Research – December 2013
Numbers of Candidates
There were 22 community colleges in the United States with at least five candidates who took
the CPA exam in calendar year 2012. Candidates were identified as students who took at least
one section of CPA exam. The following table describes the total numbers of candidates by
community college.
Table 1. Numbers of Candidates by Community College
Rank by
Total
Candidates
1
2
3
4
5
6
6
8
8
8
11
11
11
11
15
16
17
17
17
17
17
17
State
Community College
Total
Candidates
CA
VA
CA
CA
WA
CA
CA
WA
OH
CA
CA
CA
CA
VA
CA
CA
NY
WA
WI
MD
CA
CA
Santa Monica College
Northern Virginia Community College
De Anza College
Foothill College
North Seattle Community College
American River College
Glendale Community College
Bellevue Community College
Columbus State Community College
Mt. San Antonio College
City College of San Francisco
Irvine Valley College
Orange Coast College
Tidewater Community College
El Camino College
Coastline Community College
CUNY Borough Manhattan Community College
Edmonds Community College
Madison Area Technical
Montgomery College
Saddleback College
San Mateo Community College
30
28
24
15
14
9
9
8
8
8
7
7
7
7
6
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
The data indicate that among the community colleges in the United States, SMC had the largest
number of CPA exam candidates. Among all California schools, including 4-year institutions,
Santa Monica College had, on average, fewer candidates than University of California (UC; M =
316), California State University (CSU; M = 239), and private (M = 76) institutions.
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Office of Institutional Research – December 2013
CPA Exam Pass Rates
The CPA Exam Pass Rate was calculated by dividing the total number of testing events passed
by the total number of testing events. All candidates, including those who attempted only one,
two, or three of the four sections were included in the analyses.
The following figure summarizes the average CPA pass rates by institution type. Only
institutions with five or more CPA candidates were included in the analyses.
Figure 2. Average Pass Rates
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
36.7%
41.0%
44.1%
48.2%
32.1%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
CA Community
Colleges
All Community
Colleges (National)
CSU
SMC
UC
The 2012 SMC average CPA pass rate was 44.1%, higher than the California (32.1%) and national
(36.7%) community college pass rates, and the CSU pass rate (41.0%). SMC performed at a lower
average pass rate when compared with UC institutions (48.2%); however, SMC had a higher
average than two of the eight UC institutions with CPA candidates, UC Santa Cruz (38.8%) and
UC Riverside (32.4%).
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Office of Institutional Research – December 2013
Pass Rates by Section
The CPA exam consists of four sections: AUD (auditing), BEC (business environment and
concepts), FAR (financial accounting and reporting), and REG (regulation). The section pass rates
were calculated by dividing the total number of testing events passed by the total number of
testing events. An event is defined as a test attempt; some candidates attempted a section of
the exam more than once, therefore, the counts include duplicated counts of candidates.
Figure 3. Average Pass Rates by Section
60.0%
50.0%
Pass Rate
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
AUD
BEC
FAR
REG
National CC
36.2%
39.4%
36.8%
39.0%
CA CC
33.5%
31.5%
28.5%
37.8%
CSU
39.4%
42.1%
40.2%
42.7%
UC
51.5%
53.1%
45.2%
47.7%
SMC
41.7%
47.4%
43.5%
44.4%
The pass rates by section data reveal that when compared with all community colleges in the
United States, all institutions in California, all community colleges in California, and the CSU
institutions, SMC performs higher, on average, on all four sections of the CPA exam. SMC
performs at a lower rate than the UC average on each of the four sections on the CPA exam,
however, the difference is smaller (1.7%) on the FAR section of the test.
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Office of Institutional Research – December 2013