Penn State Great Valley Accounting (Master of Professional) graduate Mike Donnelly was recently awarded the prestigious Elijah Watt Sells Award for his performance on the Uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Examination. 

Each year, the American Institute of CPAs presents the award to CPA candidates who pass all four sections of the exam on their first attempt and have a cumulative average score above 95.5 across all sections.

Of the nearly 67,000 people who took the CPA exam in 2022, only 50 met the criteria for the award.

For Donnelly, being part of such a select group is thanks in large part to how thoroughly Great Valley’s program helped prepare him for the exam, he said.

“I had excellent professors in the program, and they all cared about my success,” Donnelly said.

Donnelly currently works at Merck, in global workplace enterprise services, but didn’t follow a “typical” path to a career in accounting.

He changed multiple majors in undergrad until settling on his finance degree at the College of New Jersey.

That’s when he discovered his passion for accounting, but at that point, he didn’t want to change majors again and delay his graduation.

After college, Donnelly began a job in internal auditing which solidified his desire to pursue accounting.

He researched a few Philadelphia-area master’s degrees in accounting, took several online and decided to enroll in Great Valley’s program because of its in-person evening classes and the flexibility it offered part-time students.

“I have nothing but good things to say about the program,” said Donnelly.

Read more about the Donnelly’s accounting journey and his impressive exam performance on Penn State Great Valley.

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