The 150-credit requirement means a candidate must complete 150 semester hours of college education—typically 30 hours beyond a standard 120-hour bachelor’s degree—to obtain a CPA license in most US states. This requirement often necessitates a Master’s degree, a double major, or extra undergraduate courses to fulfill the mandatory education needed to sit for the CPA exam or receive licensure.
However, in 1988, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) recommended that state accounting boards raise that requirement to 150 credit hours. For the most part, adding this requirement came from the idea that extra education before licensure would make for more well-rounded CPAs.
150 credit hours is equivalent to 5 years of higher education. It can be accumulated in different ways: 4 years of bachelor + 1 year of master's degree, typically in accounting.
The 150 Credit Rule for CPA License. Here is where many candidates get confused: meeting the 120 credit requirement allows you to sit for the exam, but you need 150 credits to actually obtain your CPA license.
All states and jurisdictions require CPAs to have a minimum of a bachelor's degree and 150 total hours of college education, either at the undergraduate or graduate level. Most states also require a specific number of hours in upper-level accounting and business coursework.
You don't need 150 credits to sit for the CPA exam in California. You can qualify to take the exam with a bachelor's degree, 24 credits of accounting courses, and 24 credits of business courses. However, you'll need to earn 150 credits total before you can apply for CPA licensure.
The CPA credit requirement is set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). While there are varying credit requirements by state, candidates generally need to complete 150 credit hours of higher education. This is known as the 150-hour rule.
To sit for a CPA examination in California, candidates must have: 24 credits from accounting subjects; 24 credits from business related subjects; 20 credits from accounting study; and 10 credits of ethics study.
All courses offered through CpaCredits.com are through Regionally Accredited University partners and are accepted by all state boards.
Many students pursue a master's degree as part of their studies to become a CPA. Requirements to become a CPA typically include 150 college credits, which is 30 more than most bachelor's degrees. A master's degree generally requires 30 to 45 credits, which are often used to fulfill CPA requirements.
(If you did the bare minimum number of credits to graduate, you probably have around 120 credits.) So, It's just 150-number of credits taken=number of credits to take. The time in your CPA firm does not count as education hours to take the exam.
Will my exam credits expire? A: No. Once you have passed all four sections of the Uniform CPA exam, your exam credits do not expire. However, the ethics examination expires within 24 months of passing, so it is recommended that you take that examination close to the time you are ready to apply for licensure.
To answer your question on why 150. The answer is the aicpa has been paid money by colleges to keep this stupid rule. However with the profession running into serious pipeline issues the expectation is that they will be removing the 150 requirement.
How will you earn your 150 hours?
The AICPA, in collaboration with state boards of accountancy, began advocating for an additional year of education to ensure CPAs could handle these challenges. In 1988, the AICPA membership voted overwhelmingly to support the 150-hour requirement, recommending that states adopt it as a prerequisite for CPA licensure.
2024 CPA Exam Pass Rates
The pass rates for AUD and FAR were around 46% and 41%, respectively. The discipline sections also yielded surprising results, with BAR at 41%, ISC at 56%, and TCP achieving an impressive 78% pass rate.
To be eligible for CPA, the candidate must have 120 accounting credits. If we align that with the Indian education system, 120 credits translates to 16 years of education. Each year of graduation holds 30 credits.
The Rule requires a minimum of 150 credit hours of college education for CPA certification. Since the Rule is not retroactive, the pre-rule CPA candidates' decisions on audit effort and education remain the same as in , .
All of CpaCredits.com courses are given by regionally accredited colleges, which are accepted by all state boards.