Accounting curriculum responses to the 150-hour requirement

Since the 1959 American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Council resolution on the standards of accounting education, a 5-year post-secondary educational requirement for CPA licensing has been deemed important. Twenty-three states have enacted legislation requiring 150 hours of education before a person may take the national CPA exam. Within these states, many colleges and universities have both graduate business administration or accounting programs to prepare their accounting students for the certification exam. The American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) member schools in these 23 states were surveyed to determine the curriculum in their graduate business administration and accounting programs. A significant number (31%) of the schools have installed a 30semester-hour or more accounting post-baccalaureate program. The trends in state licensing and the academic responses have been: 1. An undergraduate concentration in accounting, 2. A graduate degree granted at the completion of the post-baccalaureate hours, 3. Most state legislatures select the state boards of accountancy to determine specific courses of advanced study, 4. Most state boards of accountancy specify broad areas of subject categories, 5. Most surveyed AACSB member schools with advanced accounting programs specify over 60% of their hours in accounting subjects, 6. A majority of surveyed MBA programs with an accounting concentration (72%) required less than 40% of their total graduate credit hours in accounting courses, and 7. A higher percentage of surveyed nonaccredited advanced accounting programs (72%) required 60% of their graduate requirements in accounting courses compared to advanced accounting degree programs with both business and accounting AACSB accreditation (58%).