What is the reasonable amount of prerequisites for licensing?
As with any professional designation, there are many steps to becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the United States. Licensing is controlled at the state level. Since 1988, most US states have required individuals to have 150 credit hours from a qualifying institution prior to even sitting for the CPA exam. My home state of Ohio has finally decided to fall back this requirement starting in 2026, hopefully leading a nationwide rollback.
Few would disagree that prerequisites including business and accounting courses in addition to a rigorous exam are a crucial key to obtain perhaps the most recognized accounting designation in the industry. But beyond specific and technical knowledge, what is require of someone wishing to become a CPA? A CPA is not merely a bookkeeper, not merely a number cruncher. It might come as a surprise to outsiders that curiosity and thinking outside the box can be as vital for a great accountant as for many artistic professions. Few would disagree that some sort of hurdle to achieve to demonstrate one’s capacity for these abilities is a good idea.
However, the 150 credit hour requirement might be one of the most simplistic, myopic, and even underhanded requirements, and it has shamefully lasted for over 3 decades. I’ve been disappointed to see many of my former colleagues, competitors, and leading industry voices decry Ohio’s roll back of the 150 credit hour requirement. Many are claiming that this is a ‘lowering of the bar’ for a trusted and exclusive certification. At a minimum, this response seems dismissive of the accountant shortage in this country in recent years. Many of the rollback’s detractors are the same people I’ve seen call for an increase in representation for underrepresented groups in the industry. One of the largest hurdles for these underrepresented groups is the arbitrary and expensive 150 credit hour requirement.
There are few things more meritocratic and less arbitrary than a standardized test like the CPA Exam for measuring direct knowledge and abilities. As for general abilities, there are a number of ways to measure or prove these. University credits are one such channel. In recent years, the number of ways in which you can learn about the world and become a well-rounded individual, and thus a more competent and insightful professional, has exploded. Allowing alternative methods of proving soft skills and more generalized abilities is an inclusive and thoughtful approach to this problem. Forcing a credit hour requirement through an accredited institution as the only allowable method has been criticized by many as a racket orchestrated by the cooperation of state accountancy board and institutions of higher learning. Many institutions have even spent resources sums of money to lobby for retaining the 150 credit hour requirement in order to tighten their grip on their institutional empires.
Further consider that typically a CPA only needs ONE year of CPA supervised experience to become a CPA. One year is not even close to sufficient to become a competent CPA for even the brightest of aspiring professionals. To simultaneously promote the 150 credit hour requirement while implicitly approving of the one year experience requirement is both hypocritical and delusion in my opinion. From an egalitarian perspective, those with means will have a far easier time obtaining the experience requirement where they are typically compensated rather than spending an additional year at university, not only paying tuition, but foregoing real life experience and compensation. While it’s important to not draw sweeping conclusion from outliers, we can consider a few of the most prolific administrator and businessmen of all time:
As a child, Alexander Hamilton was largely self-taught, though he attended a church school in Nevis and later worked as a clerk for a merchant in St. Croix, where he gained experience in bookkeeping and finance. In 1772, he moved to the American colonies and enrolled at King’s College (now Columbia University) in New York. However, he never completed his degree—he left in 1776 to join the Revolutionary War. Not bad for real world experience. I suspect he would disapprove of the University rendition of “You’ll Be Back (for a 5th Year of College)” ft. Dumm Munny.
John D. Rockefeller had a more structured but relatively modest education. He attended public schools in Cleveland, Ohio, including the Cleveland Central High School. In 1855, at age 16, he took a 10-week business course at Folsom’s Commercial College in Cleveland, where he studied bookkeeping, penmanship, commercial arithmetic, and banking. Rockefeller never attended a traditional college. Instead, he went straight into business as a clerk and bookkeeper, leveraging his experience to eventually build the Standard Oil empire.
I personally (somewhat accidentally) bypassed this 150 credit hour requirement through a little known loophole. I had 142 hours after my undergraduate degree, and I prudently decided spending my time and money on another 8 credit hours after I had started work was not worth it. Like most people, I learn through a number of channels. If I were to reflect on all of the constructive feedback that I have received in my decade as a CPA, I cannot think to one single circumstance where I was told that I am not curious or that I don’t think outside the box. Those are probably two of my greatest strengths, despite the fact that I am one of the only CPAs in Ohio who technically doesn’t have 150 college credit hours.
Truly curious people often don’t have the patience for monotonous college courses with often disinterested instructors that frequently go at slow pace and aren’t necessarily aligned with their passions. They explore their passions and broaden their knowledge through conversions, experiences, and in the 21st century, the internet, which is largely FREE.
At Duner & Foote, we welcome the elimination of arbitrary hurdles to entering our industry. We want an increase of talent and competition that will help a crucial industry increase in overall quality. We are confident in the value we bring to our clients, and we are not in favor of arbitrary barriers to entry in hopes that they help us maintain our market share. We want the pie to grow for everybody, and that included CPA professionals, and especially their client.
Written by Kevin Schoen, Audit Manager – Duner & Foote