At present 48 of the 53 jurisdictions have some form of 150-hour requirement.
Virtually every jurisdiction has taken a very broad approach. Most require between
24 and 30 semester hours of accounting and 30 in general business (similar to
typical upper division core requirements). Some states provide a list of accounting
courses and the number of credits required in various accounting subjects. These
lists resemble traditional 120-hour requirements. Courses in ethics, global issues,
social or environmental accounting do not appear. Many requirements do not list
courses at all. Students can satisfy the 150-hour requirement by completing 150
hours at the undergraduate level or with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Some
states require a bachelor’s degree and allow students to earn the additional credits
at any level, even at a community college. No state requires a graduate degree.
Some states allow students to sit for the CPA exam after completing 120 hours
and to complete the additional 30 hours prior to licensure. Thus, several facts
are clear: (1) students must complete more credit hours than they did in the past
before becoming certified, (2) students can take a myriad of approaches to fulfill the
requirements, and (3) states and jurisdictions leave it to the universities to decide on
curriculum content.