A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is one of the most respected achievements in accounting. A CPA is a licensed accounting professional authorized to perform services such as auditing financial statements, representing clients before the IRS and signing off on formal financial reports for public companies. Unlike the term "accountant," which isn't a regulated title, "CPA" is a legal designation. In the U.S., Licensing is handled at the state level through boards of accountancy, so specific requirements vary slightly depending on where you plan to get licensed.
The first requirement to to qualify for a CPA license is approximately 150 credits of college coursework (each state differs), which is 30 credits more than a typical four-year bachelor's degree. Candidates commonly meet this requirement by pairing a bachelor's degree in accounting with a master's degree, like a Master’s in Accounting. Some states also require a minimum number of specific accounting and business credit hours, covering areas like auditing, taxation and financial accounting, so it's worth checking a state board's exact rules before finalizing your education plan.
The Stevens School of Business has tailored its graduate and undergraduate Accounting and Analytics degrees to prepare students for the CPA license exam. In addition to CPA readiness, the undergraduate curriculum focuses on traditional accounting principles and an understanding of data and analytics in business, while displaying how the two disciplines interact in the real world. By graduation, students will have completed the coursework required to sit for the CPA exam and become professionals who can apply analytical thinking to complex problems and make evidence-based recommendations grounded in data.
Students can continue with the Accounting and Analytics graduate program to meet the 30 semester hours of college coursework requirement and earn a master’s degree. Students will gain the expertise necessary to stay on the leading edge in the data-intensive worlds of accounting, auditing and financial reporting. The program’s wide range of electives provides students with a unique opportunity to customize a program that best fits their goals and choose a portfolio of electives that correspond with the “Core + Discipline” CPA exam structure. The CPA Disciplines include Business Analysis & Reporting (BAR), Tax and Compliance (TCP) and Information Systems & Controls (ISC).
Once you meet, or are close to meeting, your state's educational requirements, you can apply to sit for the CPA Exam through your State Board of Accountancy, which requires submitting official transcripts, paying an application fee and eventually receiving a Notice to Schedule, which allows you to book your exam sections.
Passing the Uniform CPA Examination is the key challenge of the entire process. The exam is built around three required Core sections: Auditing and Attestation, Financial Accounting and Reporting, and Taxation and Regulation. Candidates then choose one additional Discipline section from Business Analysis and Reporting, Information Systems and Controls, or Tax Compliance and Planning, enabling some specialization while still testing a shared foundation of knowledge. Each section is graded on a scale of 0 to 99, with 75 typically needed to pass. All four sections must be passed within an 18- to 30-month rolling window, depending on the state.
Alongside the exam, most states require one to two years of relevant accounting experience, typically completed under the supervision of a licensed CPA. This experience often comes from public accounting work in audit, tax or advisory roles, though it can also come from private industry accounting, corporate finance or government and nonprofit positions. Your supervising CPA usually needs to formally verify this experience as part of your final license application.
Some states layer on additional requirements before granting a license, most commonly an ethics exam like the AICPA Ethics Exam, along with occasional residency requirements or expectations around continuing education completed before licensure. Once you've passed all exam sections, met the 150-hour education threshold, satisfied your work experience requirement and cleared any state-specific extras, you submit a final application to your state board along with any remaining fees. Once approved, you're officially a licensed CPA.
The CPA path is rigorous by design, since it protects the credibility of the profession and the trust the public places in financial reporting. The Stevens Accounting and Analytics programs provide students with the right education, strategically prepare them for the exam, and help them gain work experience to earn the CPA accreditation, one of the most respected designations in accounting and finance.
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