NASBA stops publishing info on CPA exam performance

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy is no longer reporting information about candidate performance on the Uniform CPA Examination, which universities and colleges have long relied on to rank their accounting education programs

NASBA said that the decision is part of its preparations for the CPA Evolution initiative, a joint project of the board and the American Institute of CPAs to update the CPA licensure model to educate and test for skills most in demand for accountants, especially in technology.

“Due to the necessary and important focus on bringing CPA Evolution to fruition, including significant changes that must be made to NASBA’s technology and platforms to reflect the new exam and licensure structure, NASBA has ceased publishing the 'Candidate Performance on the Uniform CPA Examination' publication until this important transition is completed,” said NASBA in an email Tuesday.

The NASBA email linked to a FAQ page explaining the change in policy. The change will take effect with the 2020 edition of the Candidate Performance Book going forward until further notice. Publications through 2019, however, will remain available on NASBA’s www.nasbareport.com website.

For universities seeking more current data for accreditation purposes, the information won’t be available from NASBA at this time. “We encourage you to seek alternative sources of information or alternative measures of your program,” said NASBA, which did not respond to a request for comment.

Courtesy of NASBA

One such alternative that has been catching on is the CPA Success Index, which was created by a group of professors from the University of Northern Iowa and Baylor University (see stories here and here).

Universities and organizations such as the American Accounting Association and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business are urging NASBA to reconsider its decision.

“Most accounting programs look closely at this data and use it for outcome reporting and benchmarking,” said Joseph Ugrin, who chairs the accounting department at the University of Northern Iowa. “It seems odd that NASBA is no longer capable of giving out candidate performance data considering NASBA oversees the licensing and has a large influence on the education of professionals who are supposed to be experts at reporting data.”

Until at least 2025, depending on the timing of the CPA Evolution project, NASBA said it won’t be publishing the detailed pass rates and statistics for universities.

“With CPA Evolution, we know that the publication will require significant reformatting,” said NASBA. “Much of the information will not be comparable to prior statistical information published. At earliest, we might publish newly formatted 2024 data in 2025.”

For academics who are hoping to request data for research purposes, NASBA said the availability of data for research purposes would be severely restricted for the foreseeable future. “Depending on the purpose and nature of the research, as well as the ease of accessibility of the data, such requests will be considered on an ad hoc basis,” said NASBA. Researchers can use the Contact Us link on the NASBA website for data inquiries.

Nevertheless, NASBA’s research grant program is still expected to continue. NASBA’s 2022 call for proposals is open through March 11, 2022. Submissions can be made to grantproposal@nasba.org.