The Relationship Between the Number of CPA Exam Candidates and the State Requirements for CPA Certification in the Presence of the 150-hour Requirement?

Cheryl L. L. Allen`
Morehouse College

Abstract: The AICPA has extended the educational requirements for individuals seeking membership in the organization. Generally an additional 30 hours of coursework are required to satisfy the 150-hour requirement. However, the AICPA does not prescribe the courses that comprise the additional hours. Thus, while 48 of the 54 state jurisdictions have uniformly adopted the 150-hour requirement, there may be a lack of uniformity among adopting states regarding the additional courses that qualify toward the 150-hour requirement. Accordingly, potential CPA candidates may exploit this lack of uniformity by adopting the strategy to “sit” for the exam in the state of least resistance. This exploratory study investigates if accounting graduates are adopting strategies when selecting the state in which to “sit” for the CPA examination based on the difficulty of the state’s certification requirement in the presence of the 150-hour requirement.

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