MMSU was one of the only 129 schools in the country that surpassed the dismal 14.32 percent national passing rate in the October 2019 Certified Public Accountant Licensure Examination (CPALE).

The examination was administered by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Lucena, Tacloban and Tuguegarao.

Eight out of 50 takers from the College of Business, Economics and Accountancy (CBEA) passed the test, giving an institutional passing rate of 16 percent. Only one out of the 39 first-time takers and seven out of 11 repeaters passed the test.

They were among the 2,075 passers out of 14,492 examinees throughout the country. 

The dismal result of the October examination showed that of the 479 accountancy schools in the country, almost half (46 percent), or about 220 schools, got zero overall performance -- meaning not one of their students passed the test, while two-thirds, or 320 schools, have less than 10 percent passing rates.

PRC records showed that in May 2016, 2,967 out of 6,925 examinees passed, a high 42.84 percent. In October of the same year, 5,249 out of 14,390 examinees passed or 36.48 percent.

Also in May 2017, 3,389 of the 9,645 examinees passed or 35.15 percent, while in October of that year, 4,511 of the 14,816 made it; while in May 2018, 2,843 of the 9,830 examinees passed, and 3,616 of the 14,358 examinees passed in October of the same year.

In May this year, MMSU produced 15 new CPAs who garnered 50 percent overall rating in the same examination. The number of successful examinees in the said month was 1,699 out of 10,319, or a mere 16.46 percent.