The students in Concordia’s Diploma in Accountancy program outdid themselves in this year’s UFEs (uniform final exams).

They achieved an overall pass rate on the gruelling chartered accountancy tests of 90.5 per cent, compared to 70.8 per cent for Quebec and 67.6 per cent for Canada as a whole. When applied only to first-time Concordia writers of the UFE, that pass rate was a whopping 94.5 per cent.

The exams are written over several days in the fall by aspiring chartered accountants. Starting in 1992, Concordia pulled way ahead of the pack by tailoring its graduate diploma program specifically to UFE writers. The results were spectacular.

Meanwhile, Quebec as a whole was posting dismal rates compared to candidates outside the province. (The exams are set by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.) The Ordre des Comptables Agrées du Québec, together with the Quebec universities, revised the curriculum, with the result that Quebec’s results have improved dramatically.

The top 20 students across Canada included seven Quebecers this year, and we are especially proud of two outstanding Concordia graduates: Sonya Branco, placed first in Quebec and second in Canada, and Nadine Ricard, who was third in Quebec and sixth in Canada.

Both were Co-op students, alternating their undergraduate studies at Concordia with terms of work. They graduated in the summer of 1998, and both now work in Montreal at PriceWaterhouseCooper. “We’re very proud of them,” said Louise Lalonde, of the Institute for Co-operative Education.