Yes, a degree in another field can lead to a CPA license in the boards read for this guide, but not on the strength of the degree alone. Boards count credits. A candidate with a degree in, say, economics or engineering has to show a defined number of accounting semester hours and, in many states, business semester hours, taken at an accredited school. This guide explains how that counting works, how three boards differ, and how to close a gap. It reflects published rules as of November 2026.
The main point is that the question belongs to your board. The AICPA says licensure requirements are state-specific, including which pathways are accepted and eligibility rules. If you want the full sequence, start with how to become a CPA.
Does the CPA Exam require an accounting degree?
The exam itself does not test your degree; it tests content. Whether you are allowed to sit is a board decision. The AICPA describes the exam as a four-section, 16-hour assessment that candidates enter after the board authorizes them to test, and it says other requirements "may differ by jurisdiction." Some boards require a particular number of accounting hours before you can sit. Pennsylvania, for example, lets candidates sit with at least 120 semester credits and then applies the accounting and business credit rules for the license.
How do boards count accounting and business credits?
NASBA describes the model law's three pathways as a graduate degree in accounting, a bachelor's degree in accounting plus 30 more semester credits, or a bachelor's degree in accounting with 120 semester hours and two years of experience. Each model pathway assumes accounting coursework. If you do not have the accounting degree, you look at your board's own rule, which often accepts a degree in another field plus a defined set of coursework.
Three boards illustrate the range.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts requires 150 semester hours including a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution, plus one of three options. For someone without an accounting degree, the relevant ones are:
- Option 3: 150 semester hours of general education with at least a bachelor's degree, including or supplemented by 30 semester hours of accounting (financial accounting, auditing, taxation and management accounting) and 24 semester hours of non-accounting business courses (business law, information systems, finance, and at least one of economics, business organizations, professional ethics or business communication).
- Option 2: A graduate degree in accounting, business administration or law, plus 30 undergraduate or 18 graduate semester hours of accounting and 24 undergraduate or 18 graduate semester hours of business.
Details that trip up career changers, from the same board page: online, AP and pass/fail courses are acceptable if the credit comes from a regionally accredited college or university and appears on an official transcript. CLEP credit counts when it appears on such a transcript. Correspondence courses and commercial review courses are not acceptable. A CPA review course counts only if a regionally accredited college awards credit for it. Personal finance does not meet the finance requirement. Since March 2020, accounting ethics does not count as an accounting elective toward the general accounting hour requirement.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania requires, for licensure under any of its three pathways, at least 24 semester credits in accounting, auditing, business law, economics, technology, finance or tax, plus 12 more semester credits in accounting, auditing or tax. The education rule is written as credit counts. Each pathway requires a bachelor's degree or higher, and the pathway sets the experience: 12 months and 1,600 hours at 150 total credits, or 24 months and 3,200 hours with fewer than 150.
New Jersey
New Jersey's education rules, effective February 11, 2026, offer a degree option (a bachelor's degree or higher, or its equivalent, from a regionally accredited institution) and a credit-hour option of at least 150 semester hours of general college-level credit including at least 24 semester hours in accounting and at least 24 in general business. The board requires an official transcript from each school attended, and it does not count coursework from a chartered accountant or similar program toward the requirements.
A pathway that names the concentration
Some states write the 120-hour pathway around an accounting concentration in place of an accounting degree. If your target state uses that wording, a degree in another field plus the concentration's credits is the likely route, and the board defines how many credits make a concentration. Ask the board for its definition in writing before you enroll.
How to close a credit gap: an illustrative example
The numbers below are illustrative and use the Massachusetts Option 3 counts.
A graduate holds a bachelor's degree in economics with 124 semester hours. The transcript shows 6 semester hours of accounting and 18 semester hours of qualifying business courses.
- Accounting needed: 30 − 6 = 24 more semester hours.
- Business needed: 24 − 18 = 6 more semester hours.
- Total new credits: 24 + 6 = 30 semester hours.
- Total after completion: 124 + 30 = 154 semester hours, which clears the 150-hour total.
If the graduate had held 140 hours instead, the same 30 credits would bring the total to 170. Reaching the accounting and business subject minimums is still required even when the total is already above 150.
Check each course against the board's list before registering. In the Massachusetts example, a course in personal finance would not count toward the finance requirement, and an accounting ethics course would not count as an accounting elective.
Where to take the courses
Boards look for accredited institutions and official transcripts. Community colleges and universities both appear in practice, but the board page decides what it accepts. Points that apply across the boards read here:
- Credit must appear on an official transcript from an accredited school. The Massachusetts page specifies regionally accredited credit, and New Jersey requires transcripts from each school attended.
- Standalone exam-prep courses sold by review providers usually do not count unless a college awards credit for them. Massachusetts says so directly.
- Foreign credits need a credential evaluation. Pennsylvania names approved evaluation agencies, including NASBA, and New Jersey requires evaluation through NASBA International Evaluation Services.
The AICPA also suggests online courses in areas such as data analytics or IT to help meet education requirements. Whether any specific course counts is for the board to say.
What about the rest of the process?
Education is one of the three Es. A non-accounting graduate still passes the exam, completes the experience requirement and meets any ethics rule. The experience can come from government, industry, academia or public practice in Pennsylvania, subject to verification, and boards differ on this. Audit and accounting roles give you the most direct experience for the AUD section, and what an auditor does describes the work.
If you are mid-career, the 150-hour rule entry explains why the total matters, and the state hub points you to individual states' pages. Before you pay for a course, get the board's written position on your transcript.
Frequently asked questions
Can you become a CPA with a degree in another field?
Yes, where the board accepts the degree plus the required accounting and business credits. The counts differ by state, so the board decides.
How many accounting credits do you need?
It depends on the state. Massachusetts requires 30 semester hours of accounting under its general option, New Jersey 24, and Pennsylvania 24 across accounting, auditing, business law, economics, technology, finance or tax plus 12 in accounting, auditing or tax.
Do online courses count toward the CPA education requirement?
In Massachusetts, online courses count if credit comes from a regionally accredited college and appears on an official transcript. Other boards have their own rules.
Do CLEP credits count?
Massachusetts accepts CLEP credit when it appears on a regionally accredited institution's transcript. Check other boards individually.
Do I need a master's degree?
Not always. A graduate degree is one of the model pathways, and Massachusetts and Pennsylvania both offer a graduate option, but the 150-hour pathway does not require a master's degree.
Can I take the CPA Exam before I finish the credits?
Some boards allow it with 120 semester hours, as Pennsylvania does. Others require specific coursework first. Your board's exam eligibility page has the rule.
Sources
- AICPA & CIMA, Your road map to the CPA Exam and becoming a CPA, aicpa-cima.com
- AICPA & CIMA, Everything You Need to Know About the CPA Exam, aicpa-cima.com
- NASBA, New CPA Licensure Pathways and CPA Mobility, nasba.org
- NASBA, Massachusetts CPA licensing requirements, nasba.org
- NASBA, New Jersey CPA licensing requirements, nasba.org
- Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy, CPA Licensure Requirements Snapshot, pa.gov
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AU-C references are to AICPA Professional Standards, paraphrased here; read the standard itself before relying on a requirement. This page is guidance, not professional advice. Report an error