College-Level Exposure to Accounting Study and Its Effect on Student Performance in the First MBA-Level Financial Accounting Course.

Abstract This study investigates the effects of college-level exposure to accounting on student performance in the first MBA-level financial accounting course. Two research questions were addressed. First, do students with some college-level study of accounting perform better in their MBA-level financial accounting course than those without any such exposure to accounting? Second, for those who are exposed to some accounting study in college, does the amount of exposure have any effect on their performance? Both questions were addressed by using the Mann-Whitney as the primary test on the comparison of examination scores of 90 students. Results of the study indicate that although students with prior exposure performed better than those without any exposure, the gap between the examination scores of the two groups narrowed somewhat as the course progressed. For those with exposure, amount of exposure was not found to be a factor in their performance.