The CPA 150-hour rule requires anyone seeking a Certified Public Accountant license in the United States to complete at least 150 semester hours of college education, roughly 30 hours beyond a standard four-year bachelor’s degree. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants adopted the standard by membership vote in 1988, and most licensing jurisdictions had written it into law by 2000. A newer alternative now exists alongside it: in 2025, the AICPA and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy approved model legislation for a pathway that allows licensure with 120 credit hours plus an additional year of work experience, though each state must adopt it on its own timeline.
What Counts Toward the 150 Hours
The 150 hours are not 150 hours of anything. Boards of accountancy require specific concentrations in accounting and business coursework, and the exact breakdown varies by jurisdiction. Most boards follow NASBA’s Uniform Accountancy Act, which calls for an accounting concentration the board deems appropriate within a total program of at least 150 semester hours from an acceptable college or university.1National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Uniform Accountancy Act Model Rules
In practice, that typically means 24 to 30 semester hours of upper-level accounting courses covering areas like auditing, taxation, and financial reporting. A separate block of roughly 24 semester hours in general business subjects such as economics, finance, and business law is also standard. The remaining hours can come from almost any academic discipline, giving candidates some flexibility in how they build a transcript. But “upper-level” is doing real work in that sentence. Introductory courses and commercial exam prep programs almost never count.
Many boards also require a dedicated ethics component. The number of required ethics hours varies, but some boards mandate several semester hours in courses specifically covering accounting ethics, professional responsibilities, or fraud. Check your board’s requirements early. A missing three-hour ethics course has derailed more license applications than anyone cares to admit.
When You Can Sit for the Exam vs. Get Licensed
One of the most misunderstood parts of the rule is that you often do not need all 150 hours before you start taking the CPA Exam. Many jurisdictions let you sit for the exam once you have completed 120 semester hours and earned a bachelor’s degree.2National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Uniform Accountancy Act 9th Edition You can begin testing right after finishing your undergraduate degree while you work toward the remaining 30 credits on the side.
The license itself stays off-limits until you meet all three requirements: 150 hours of education, a passing score on the CPA Exam, and the required work experience. Passing the exam does not give you the right to call yourself a CPA or sign off on audits. Some jurisdictions still require the full 150 hours before you can even apply for the exam, so confirm your state’s specific threshold before you build a timeline.
Work experience is the third leg. Under the traditional 150-hour pathway, most boards require one year of qualifying experience in accounting, auditing, tax, or consulting services performed under the direct supervision of an active, licensed CPA. Part-time hours count in most jurisdictions, though the conversion rates vary. Supervision means more than sharing an office with a CPA; the supervising accountant needs to review and evaluate your work on a regular basis and have genuine oversight authority over your assignments. Experience in government, industry, or public accounting can all qualify.
How to Earn the Extra 30 Credits
If you are on the traditional 150-hour track, you need a plan for those additional 30 semester hours. Each approach has trade-offs in cost, time, and how well it satisfies your board’s subject-matter requirements.
- A Master of Accountancy or an MBA with an accounting focus is the most common route. It knocks out the credit hours while adding a credential to your resume, but it is also the most expensive option, easily costing $30,000 or more in tuition alone at a public university.
- Adding a second major or a dual degree during your undergraduate years can push you to 150 hours by graduation. This requires early planning, usually by sophomore year at the latest, but avoids the cost of a separate graduate program.
- Post-graduation coursework at a four-year university or community college is often the cheapest path per credit hour. Make sure the courses are upper-level enough to satisfy your board’s specific requirements. Community college credits typically count toward the 150-hour total, though they may not satisfy the upper-level accounting or business concentrations.
- Some boards accept credits earned through the College-Level Examination Program, which lets you test out of courses for a fraction of the tuition cost. Acceptance varies by board and by which institution transcripts the CLEP scores, so verify with your specific jurisdiction before relying on this path.
Whatever the method, every credit must appear on an official transcript from an accredited institution. Boards will not accept self-reported coursework, professional development seminars, or employer-sponsored training toward the 150-hour total.
The New 120-Hour Pathway
The AICPA and NASBA approved the ninth edition of the Uniform Accountancy Act in 2025, adding a third licensure pathway alongside the two existing options.3AICPA & CIMA. Uniform Accountancy Act Ninth Edition The three pathways available as model legislation are:
- Pathway 1 (traditional): a bachelor’s degree plus 30 additional credits (150 total), one year of supervised experience, and a passing CPA Exam score.
- Pathway 2 (graduate degree): a post-baccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration, one year of experience, and a passing exam score.
- Pathway 3 (new alternative): a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration (120 hours), two years of professional experience, and a passing exam score.4NASBA. AICPA and NASBA Approve Model Legislation for New CPA Licensure Path
The trade-off in Pathway 3 is the core design: less classroom time, more on-the-job learning. The experience requirement doubles from one year to two.
The 120-hour option is model legislation, not a federal mandate. Each state must pass its own law or adopt its own rules to implement it, and adoption timelines vary. Some states moved quickly; others have not yet introduced legislation. Before building your educational plan around the 120-hour option, confirm whether your state has actually enacted it.
One practical concern is whether a CPA licensed under the 120-hour pathway can practice across state lines in jurisdictions that still require 150 hours. The updated UAA includes safe harbor language protecting CPAs who were licensed under differing education, experience, and exam requirements as of December 31, 2024, allowing them to continue to have practice privileges under existing mobility rules.5NASBA. AICPA and NASBA Approve Model Legislation for New CPA Licensure Path How mobility will work for CPAs licensed under the new pathway after that date is still being worked out at the state level. If you plan to practice in multiple states, watch this closely.
Accreditation and Transcripts
Not all college credits are created equal in the eyes of a board of accountancy. The institution where you earned your hours must hold accreditation your board recognizes. Under the UAA Model Rules, the board determines whether a college or university is “acceptable,” and that determination almost always hinges on accreditation status.1National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Uniform Accountancy Act Model Rules
Regional accreditation, recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or the U.S. Department of Education, is the standard most boards expect. Some boards also accept programmatic accreditation from bodies like the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business or the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs for their graduate-level accounting programs. Credits from nationally accredited institutions, which tend to be career-focused or vocational schools, face much steeper scrutiny and may not transfer or count at all.
Boards verify your education through official transcripts sent directly from each institution you attended. Transfer credits listed on a receiving school’s transcript generally do not count; you need the original institution’s transcript showing each course. This matters if you took community college courses or studied at multiple universities. Every transcript must come directly from the school, either mailed in a sealed envelope or sent electronically through an approved service.
If You Earned Your Degree Outside the United States
Foreign-educated candidates face an additional step before any board will evaluate the 150 hours. Your foreign transcripts must be assessed by a credential evaluation service that converts your coursework into U.S. semester-hour equivalents. NASBA operates its own International Evaluation Services specifically for CPA candidates, and many boards also accept evaluations from members of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services.6NASBA. NASBA International Evaluation Services Requirements
The evaluation requires official documents sent directly from each institution in sealed envelopes, official English translations of any non-English documents, and potentially detailed course syllabi so the evaluator can determine which courses qualify as upper-level accounting or business content. Completing a higher degree does not exempt you from documenting every year of prior study. The process can take several weeks, so start well before your planned exam application date.
What It Costs
The financial weight of the 150-hour rule extends well beyond tuition. A one-year master’s program at a public university can cost around $30,000 in tuition and fees, before living expenses. The less visible cost is the year of salary you forgo by staying in school instead of entering the workforce. When you combine tuition, room and board, and lost first-year earnings, the total burden of the extra 30 hours can exceed $100,000. That figure is one of the main arguments driving the push for the 120-hour alternative pathway.
Cheaper routes exist. Taking the extra credits at a community college can cut the per-credit cost dramatically, sometimes to a few hundred dollars per course. CLEP exams, where accepted, cost a fraction of traditional tuition. Planning a double major during your undergraduate years spreads the cost across financial aid and scholarships you may already have. Start early enough that you are not scrambling for credits after graduation with the clock ticking on your exam score expiration windows.
Beyond education, budget for the CPA Exam itself (approximately $1,050 in section fees at roughly $263 per section), your state board’s application and licensing fees (typically $20 to $150 for first-time candidates), and exam review materials, which commonly run $1,500 to $3,000. Licensing is not a one-time expense: annual renewal fees and continuing professional education requirements follow you for the life of your career.