Among candidates taking the CPA exam for the first time, graduates of the University of Iowa Department of Accounting outperformed graduates of all other Iowa public universities in 2019, according to recently released data from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).

Iowa graduates’ rank fourth among Big Ten Conference universities with large programs (those of at least 60 candidates), and 13th out of 247 large programs nationally.

Among last year’s CPA exam takers was Jake Schafer (BBA19) who earned an Elijah Watt Sells Award (requiring a 95.5+ cumulative average) and a Capstone Award (top four exam results in Iowa).

Nationally, only 55.7 percent of CPA exam candidates pass on the first try.