Accountancy soars in CPA boards

THE UNIVERSITY placed second in the October 2010 certified public accountant (CPA) licensure examinations, while poorer performance marked this year’s state licensure test for interior designers.

UST produced the biggest number of new CPAs this year as 273 or 92.23 percent of the 296 who took the exam passed. A total of 255 of them were first-time takers.

“Our passing rate could have been higher if not for the repeaters,” College of Accountancy Dean Minerva O. Cruz said. “If only we fielded pure first-time takers, we could have attained 96.26 percent”

Thomasians Lean Jeff Magsombol (94.86 percent), Patricia Maita Dimayuga (94.14 percent) and Stephen Ray Taguba (94 percent) ranked fourth, ninth, and tenth, respectively.

This year’s national passing rate was 48.36 percent, or 3,973 out of 8,216 passed the exam. The national passing rate, however, increased from the previous year’s 41.68 percent.

Last year, UST was the top performing school, with a passing rate of 88 percent, as 273 of the 311 who took the exam passed, while six placed in the top 10.

Last year, Professional Regulation Commision (PRC) ranked the top performing schools in different categories based on the number of board takers, placing the University first among schools with 100 or more examinees.

This year, PRC changed its criteria, making the University the second top-performing school among universities with 50 or more examinees and with at least 80 percent passing rate.

The University of the Philippines-Diliman with 85 examinees became the top performing school, garnering 98.82 percent.

“Before, we belonged to a category fielding 100 or more examinees and the University of the Philippines belong to a category producing less than 100,” Cruz said. “All the other universities in the top-performing schools have less than 100 examinees.”
Meanwhile, in the September 2010 interior design licensure exam, only the University of the Philippines-Diliman was the top-performing school with at least 80 percent passing rate. Seven Thomasians made it at the Top 10.

Thomasians Angelina Rosa Olondriz (90.70 percent) took the second spot, followed by Kathrina Dianne Santiago (90.20 percent) in the third place. Karen Ann Concepcion and Lianne Steffi Lim (88.10 percent) shared the sixth spot, while Krizzia Mae Raymundo (86.70 percent) took the eighth place. Angelo Emmanuel Cruz (85.70 percent placed ninth and Frances Elaine Cham (85.60percent) was tenth.

Last year, UST ranked first in the interior design exams with a 60-percent passing rate as 55 of the 92 exam takers passed. This year, the University’s passing rate was 57.95 percent with 55 out of 88 takers passing the test.

This year’s national passing rate slightly increased to 50.58 percent compared with last year’s 50.21 percent. with reports from Charmaine M. Parado