CPA requirements by state
CPA requirements by state differ because there is no national CPA license. Credit hours, experience and ethics are all set by the board you apply to — and four jurisdictions changed their rules in the last eighteen months.
About the numbers on these pages. State rules and fees change often and are set by each board of accountancy. The NASBA exam fee ($268.59 per section from July 4, 2026) is the same everywhere. Application, registration, license and renewal fees, credit-hour thresholds and experience rules come from board pages and third-party guides, and where guides disagree the page says so. We have not verified every figure against every board, so confirm anything you will pay or rely on with your state board before you act.
Many states let you sit at 120 credit hours but will not license you below 150. Plan around the sitting requirement alone and you will pass four sections, then discover you are thirty credits short.
The five things every board asks for
The list is the same almost everywhere. What changes between states is the threshold on each one.
| Requirement | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Education | A bachelor’s degree plus 120 or 150 total credit hours, depending on the state and on whether you are sitting or licensing. |
| Accounting credits | Typically 24 to 30 hours in accounting and 24 in general business. Course content matters more than course titles. |
| Experience | One year under a licensed CPA in most states, two in a few. Public, industry and government usually all count. |
| Ethics | The AICPA ethics exam in most jurisdictions. A handful run their own state paper on top of it. |
| Residency and age | Most states have dropped residency requirements. A few still want a social security number or state ties. |
The 150-hour rule is being dismantled
Since 2024 a growing number of states have added a second pathway — a bachelor’s degree plus two years of experience instead of 150 credit hours. It is the biggest change to CPA licensure in twenty years, and it is happening one legislature at a time.
Alaska repealed the 150-hour rule outright. Ohio added an alternative pathway effective January 2026.
Virginia moves to bachelor's plus two years; Utah adds the same, plus a state ethics paper.
Florida, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, North Dakota, Wyoming.
Legislation moves faster than any site can publish. Every state page carries its own verification date and a link to the board notice we read.
CPA requirements by state: pick your jurisdiction
Each page covers education, the sit-versus-license thresholds, experience, ethics, fees, board contact details and what changed most recently. All 50 states have their own page; the District of Columbia and the four territories do not have one yet. Once you know your state’s rules, our guides to the CPA application process and CPA exam cost cover the next steps.
Common questions
Can I sit the exam before I have 150 credit hours?
In many states yes — they let you sit at 120 and license at 150. A handful, Texas among them, require 150 for both. Check your own board before planning around it.
Does it matter which state I apply through?
Less than people think. Mobility means a license from one state generally lets you practice in another, and transferring later adds cost and paperwork. Apply where you live and work.
Will the 150-hour rule disappear everywhere?
Probably not quickly. Four jurisdictions have added an alternative pathway and several more have bills that failed. Treat any change as real only when your own board publishes it.
Do the District of Columbia and the US territories set their own CPA requirements?
Yes. They are among the 55 jurisdictions, and each one’s board of accountancy sets its own education, experience and ethics rules. We do not have separate pages for them yet, so check with that jurisdiction’s board directly.