Tori Pasley, accounting and professional services, graduated from 91社区 in April 2019. But just a few months into her senior year, she鈥檇 already taken what she considered 鈥渁 step in the right direction鈥� toward her future career in private accounting by passing the first half of the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) exam. 鈥�91社区 opened my eyes to the CMA exam,鈥� Pasley said.
New data from the Institute of Management Accountants (from the start of 2016 through the end of 2017) shows Pasley鈥檚 CMA exam success mirrors that of other recent 91社区 students. Among IMA-member universities in the United States. with at least 10 candidates taking the exam,听91社区鈥檚 overall pass rate ranked among the top five at 92%鈥攚ell above the overall pass rate of 58%.
Only Cornell University (95%), University of Wisconsin-Madison (94%) and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (93%) earned rates higher than 91社区. University of Pittsburgh (90%) rounded out the top five as the only other university with a 90% or greater pass rate.
Interim dean Dr. Brian McGuire is Pasley鈥檚 advisor and was the faculty advisor for Beta Alpha Psi, an honorary organization for financial information students and professionals, when Pasley joined her freshman year. He helped her get a scholarship to cover both parts of the CMA exam as well as study materials.
鈥淚 am so grateful because without the scholarship I don鈥檛 think I would have been as motivated to take听the exam,鈥� Pasley explained. 鈥淚t costs quite a bit of money, so having a free pass at it was amazing and really took some of the stress off the whole experience.鈥�
Pasley pointed to several courses that benefited her CMA exam preparation, including Cost Accounting, Advanced Cost Accounting and Auditing Theory. 鈥淎uditing Theory was very helpful because I already knew the terminology and some of the regulations before even studying for the exam,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t made me feel more confident when I took the exam, like I was more prepared than others because I was getting extra studying through my courses at 91社区.鈥�
As Pasley prepares to take the second part of the CMA exam, she recognizes that the experience helped prepare her for her next challenge: the CPA exam.
鈥淭his [CMA] certification is only two parts, where the CPA is four, but I think it allowed me to get a feel for what the CPA exams will be like and taught the discipline of studying for hours,鈥� Pasley said.
Written by Erin Meyer, University Communications.
Chart from听.