[Tammy28]

Hi Everyone,

I have been lurking this forum for several years. I am thinking of taking the CPA exam and eventually the license. I have my undergraduate degree in Finance and associate degree in Accounting. My question is do I have to obtain graduate degree for CPA exam and license? Can I take classes at community college? I currently reside in Santa Ana, California.

Thank you Everyone,

Tammy

[peskypole]

You do not need a graduate degree in any state I am aware of. The best thing to do is look at your states requirements. For example, Oregon required 24 accounting credits and 24 business related credits to be part of the 150 semester credits. I know of a couple coworkers who are taking some easy accounting course at an online community college to fulfill the requirements.

FAR - PASSED!! - 95
AUD - PASSED!! - 98
REG - PASSED!! - 93
BEC - PASSED!! - 90
Licensed CPA
Just a couple of thoughts I tried to remember as I went through the journey of passing the CPA exams:
Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

[Anonymous]

Some states do require a graduate degree, or at least for one “path” to licensure or another.

Tammy, CA recently re-did their requirements and I know they're a lot more specific now. CA isn't one of the states that requires a grad degree, though. This pamphlet: https://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/publications/applbook.pdf page 7 of the PDF (page 3 by the numbers on the page) lists the educational requirements. Someone from CA may be able to give you more insight on what this all means in layman's terms, but there's the official requirements. From what I can tell, there are requirements about what the credits are in (business, accounting, etc.), but I don't see anything specifying that they must be upper-level or must be from a 4-year college/university or anything like that. Before taking classes at a community college, though, I would give the CBA a call to verify that it's OK. From what I've heard, they're quite friendly and helpful. 🙂

[Tammy28]

Thank you Peskypole46 and Lilla for answering my questions. I will give CBA a call.

[Anonymous]

https://www.thiswaytocpa.com/exam-licensure/state-requirements/CA/

[Author]

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