Educational Requirements

After January 1, 2001, a candidate taking the examination for the first time must have successfully completed at least 150 semester hours of acceptable credit including a baccalaureate or higher degree. The semester hours accepted by the Board must include an accounting concentration or its equivalent.

Acceptable credit recognized by the Board is:

a) credit earned from a college or university which is a candidate for or is accredited by a regional  accrediting association which is a member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

b) credit earned at a business school or college of business within the educational institution that is accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) or Association of College Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).

A candidate will be deemed to have met the educational requirement if, as part of the 150 semester hours of education he or she has met any one of the four conditions listed below.
In each condition accounting hours do not include business law, and no more than six semester hours of accounting may be obtained through internships or life-experience credit posted on a college transcript.
 

1. Earned a graduate degree with a concentration in accounting from a program that is accredited in accounting by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board.
2. Earned a graduate degree from a program that is accredited in business by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board and completed at least 24 semester hours in accounting at the undergraduate level or 15 semester hours at the graduate level or equivalent combination thereof, including courses covering the subjects of financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and management accounting.
3. Earned a baccalaureate degree from a program that is accredited in business by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board and completed 24 semester hours in accounting at the undergraduate or graduate level, including courses covering the subjects of financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and management accounting; and completed at least 24 semester hours of business courses, or substantially equivalent (other than accounting) courses, at the undergraduate or graduate level.
4. Earned a baccalaureate or higher degree from an accredited educational institution or other institution recognized by the Board, including at least 24 semester hours of accounting at the undergraduate and/or graduate level 2 with at least one course each in financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and management accounting and at least 24 hours in business courses or substantially equivalent (other than accounting) courses at the undergraduate or graduate level.

Courses acceptable toward the 24 hours in business are: Economics, Business Law,
Marketing, Finance, Business and Technical Communication, Business Ethics, International
Business, Legal and Social Environment of Business, Management, Business/Management
Information Systems, Quantitative Methods and Statistic courses taught by the accounting
department. Other courses are subject to review by the Board of Examiners.