Academic achievement by graduates from for-profit and nonprofit institutions: Evidence from CPA exam performance

ABSTRACTThis study shows that graduates from nonprofit educational institutions outperform graduates from for-profit institutions on the four sections of the certified public accountant (CPA) exam. Specifically, it (1) documents univariate differences in CPA exam scores, score distributions, pass rates, and time to complete the CPA exam; (2) investigates the differences in a multivariate context; and (3) examines the robustness of the results to various levels of control for student differences.