Previous Accounting Education and College-Level Accounting Exam Performance.

Abstract Prior studies on this topic have grouped students by presence or absence of previous accounting coursework rather than by the amount of previous accounting coursework. These studies typically concluded that such coursework has no effect on college-level performance. In contrast, students were grouped for the current study by amount of previous accounting coursework (none, one year or less, and over one year). Results from this grouping method contrast sharply with those of prior studies found in the accounting literature. No difference in overall course performance was noted between college students without prior accounting coursework and those with one year or less of high school accounting coursework. However, students with more than one year of high school coursework earned significantly higher scores on all exams in the college introductory financial accounting course. Potential implications of these findings are also discussed.