This exam was developed by accountants in public practice, industry and education. The exam tests the areas that accountants believe to be important for successful performance in the accounting profession. The test measures a student's ability to define words, to read and understand passages, and to solve problems involving logic and mathematical concepts. Many colleges are using this exam, finding that it is a good predictor of performance in an accounting program. We are comparing our students' performance to national norms to assess their abilities at the beginning of the accounting curriculum.

The Accounting Aptitude Test has three sections: verbal, quantitative, and problem-solving. These sections are an indicator of our students' abilities relative to these professionally related skills. We will calculate our students' scores by section and compare the results to national norms to assess our students' abilities in these skill areas.

To assess the quality of students entering the accounting program, we are comparing the scores on the Accounting Aptitude Test of students in Intermediate Accounting I (BACC 350) with the overall scores from the students taking the test from the prior year (since there is usually one year between Beginning Accounting and Intermediate Accounting). This comparison will determine if we are attracting the better students in Beginning Accounting into our accounting program. This comparison will begin in the Fall semester of 1996, as all of our students in Intermediate Accounting should have taken the Accounting Aptitude Test in a prior year. The Department believes that it is important to assess the ability of our students as they enter the accounting curriculum if we are going to get a meaningful assessment of their accounting knowledge at the end of the program.

To test our students' accounting knowledge at the end of our program, we have decided to give an accounting achievement test at the end of the Auditing (BACC 470) course. This class is taken during the Fall semester of their senior year. By the time that students take the exam, they should have completed all required accounting courses. This exam will cover material from all of the required courses. The exam will be given for the first time in the Fall semester, 1996. The scores of our students will be compared to national averages to determine their performance. We also intend to track the scores across time at our University to determine if we are improving our students' performance. A similar exam will be given to our finance and real estate majors.

The AICPA Achievement test for the accounting graduates and the Educational Testing Services Finance Test will be piloted during the 1994-95 academic year.

We administered the Accounting Achievement Test at the end of the Auditing (BACC 470) course to all of our accounting majors. The exam covers material from all of our required accounting courses. We compared our students to the national averages and determined that they needed more knowledge in the systems area. Therefore, we have added Accounting Information Systems (BACC 391) to our required curriculum.

The Department will review the results of the standardized testing at the end of the semester. The expectation is that we will set a minimum exit requirement for BACC 251 and BFIN 308. This will mean that students will not be allowed to advance to the next class without passing the test.