The CPA Exam in Vermont

Accounting for CPA Exam Requirements

Vermont’s CPA regulations are changing. New rules will boost the credit hours required to sit for the CPA exam from 120 to 150. The good news is that Champlain’s new Post-Baccalaureate Certificate from the Division of Continuing Professional Studies will fill the gap between the 120 credits provided by a student’s Bachelor’s Degree and the new 150-credit standard. The certificate will eliminate the wait between the completion of studies and the start of each accounting student’s career as a CPA.

Certificate in Advanced Accounting Studies

Rationale
All candidates for certified public accounting (CPA) licensure must meet specific educational and experience requirements and pass a national Uniform CPA Exam.  Effective July 1, 2014, any person wanting to pursue CPA licensure in the State of Vermont will need 150 credit hours to be licensed, accompanied by one year of professional experience, and satisfactory completion of the uniform examination.  Prior to this deadline, persons with 120 credit hours could pursue CPA licensure accompanied by two years of professional experience.  In May, 2012 Champlain will graduate the last class of traditional undergraduate students whom upon completion of their bachelor’s degree and two years of experience can become licensed in Vermont.

Vermont will, in 2014, join the national movement, begun in 1978 with Hawaii, requiring 150 credit hours.  The list below identifies neighboring states, along with the effective date of the change, transitioning from 120 credit hours to 150 hour requirement.

Connecticut - January 1, 2000 
Massachusetts - July 1, 2002 
New Hampshire - July 1, 2014
New Jersey - July 1, 2000 
New York - August 1, 2009 
Rhode Island - July 1, 1999 
Vermont - July 1, 2014

Response
Champlain College is rooted in its mission to provide professional education to its students, to ensure that they are ready and able to meet the challenges of their given profession.  To address this changing environment, the accounting program has created a 150 credit hour landscape for those who desire to pursue CPA licensure.  The minor/ specialization will offer an opportunity for students to combine a passion of accounting with another discipline of their choosing.  The current approved specializations ranging from Environmental Studies to Game Design, as well as a self-designed option, will provide the platform for the minors, which will be approved and development at a later date.  This program has been drafted in such a way to allow for flexibility as other Divisions continue to create specializations and ultimately minors.  We believe that the Champlain accounting graduate will not only be ready to sit for the CPA, but will be prepared for the industry and successful career based on this offering.

Highlights
The revised landscape can aggressively be completed in nine semesters, capitalizing on a student’s ability to take 33 credit hours per academic year.  This strategy is unique in that students will pay for 21 additional credits, versus 30, if having obtained a traditional bachelor degree and graduate in December upon completion of their ninth semester.  It is our belief, based on employers’ feedback during the current accounting recruiting season, that this would be an advantage given the number of traditional May graduates.  Additionally students will continue to have the flexibility to study abroad in the second semester of the 3rd year further differentiating themselves from other local graduates.

Competitive Analysis
The demand for 150 credit hours has, based on our competitive analysis, only been addressed in one way, a Masters degree of Accounting.  Champlain College prides itself on differentiating its product offering to meet the needs of its target market.  Not every 20-21 year old is ready to take on the demands of a Master’s degree.  This model allows 18 year olds to come to college, chose a career with strong job placement, and combine it with a given passion, via a specialization.  No one else offers such an opportunity.

Target Market
Undergraduate accounting students who need to fulfill their 150 credit hour requirement, who are working towards a bachelor’s degree in accounting.  The AICPA requires no specific courses for the additional 30 credits needed in most states for CPA certification. 
Certificate Requirements

The following are required courses for the Forensic Accounting Certificate:  

Total credits: 18

*Course names will be proposed with the Masters of Accounting concept proposal in 2011.