Wondering what to do about the 150-hour requirement to sit for the CPA exam in Illinois?
If you will have close to 150 hours by the time you finish the BS in accounting, then you should just take some extra electives to bring your hours to 150. The following discussion pertains to you if you will have just a few hours over 120 hours when you finish the BS in accounting.
What are your options?
1. An undergraduate degree - a B.S. in Accounting with 30 more hours.
2. Masters of Science in Accounting (MSA) completed on full or part-time basis at UIC immediately after the BS degree.
You could join the MSA program at UIC immediately after graduation (1) - You need to have at least a B average to join the MSA program.
(2) - You need to pay for and get an acceptable score in the GMAT.
(3) - The MSA program has a higher tuition than the undergraduate program. The MSA tuition is $4,100 more per term.
(1) + Graduate courses are typically taught by senior accounting faculty, who have extensive knowledge of the accounting profession and establishment. The courses cover materials useful to the CPA exam and incorporate research, current topics, accounting literature and case studies highly valued by employers.
(2) + Most employers pay more for masters students compared to undergraduates and so the additional tuition will pay for itself in a few years. (3) + MSA will help you in the CPA examination as it requires additional accounting courses and you may also move some of the required undergraduate elective accounting courses to the MSA program.
(4) + Graduate assistantships are available for MSA students with accounting degrees and good grades. These assistantships pay up to $35 per hour for 10 hours per week of employment.
This option allows you to merely extend your program at UIC to obtain the additional hours necessary to reach 150 hours. You can also choose minors and certificates to show packaged programs on you resume. See below for choices.
(1) + No need to apply to graduate programs and so no need to spend time and money for application materials and GMAT requirement.
(2) + Because you are already at UIC this may be the less expensive alternative, if your only goal is to qualify to sit for the CPA exam. The MSA tuition is $4,100 more per term.
(1) - Although in the short-term this route may be the least expensive and hassle-free, there may be long-term effects on your career. For example, if your peers select the graduate program alternative, and they and you are competing for career advancement, you may not receive the same consideration as a peer with a Masters degree, all else being equal. (2) - The additional courses may not help you in the CPA examination, as it does not add to your accounting knowledge.
(3) - The second major will not help you if you are interested only in accounting-based careers and will not help you to connect with the profession.
In addition to the required courses for the BS accounting degree you can take the following courses to make up 150 hours. If at the time of BS graduation you have much more than 121 hours, closer to 150 hours this may be the better option.
You would have taken three for you required BS Accounting degree. You can take up to five more from the following list.
355 Business Law I; 417 Advanced Financial Accounting; 446 Federal Income Tax II; 456 Business Law II; 465 Governmental & Non-profit Accounting; 475 Database Accounting Systems; 484 International Accounting; 494 Special topics (varying)
http://www.uic.edu/cba/cba-depts/ids/minor_is.html
Four Courses. This is a great package for accounting majors. The IDS department has developed program of courses of great added value to accounting majors. The minor will appear in your transcript and employers will value you MIS skills. These courses will also help you in CPA BEC section and other licenses later like CFE, CISA etc if you are interested.
Two required courses IDS 331 - Spreadsheet analysis or IDS 201 - Introduction to business programming and IDS 410 - Business Database Technology; Two Electives from: IDS 403 – Information security and forensics; IDS 405 – Business systems analysis and design; IDS 454 – Supply chain management; IDS 472 – Business data mining
Finance classes will help you in CPA BEC section and other licenses later like CFA, CPA-ABV if you are interested. Take FIN 310 Investments; FIN 320 Managerial Finance and other electives.
Four or five courses. The minor will appear in your transcript and employers will value you this. Required Course Econ 221 Macroeconomics in the World Economy: Theory and Applications; 3 of the following courses Actg 484 – International Accounting; Econ 333 – International Economics; Econ 334 – Economic Development; Fin 442 – International Finance; Mgmt 460 – Business, Society, and the Global Economy; Mktg 469 – Global Marketing; One International course outside CBA from a list.
Note: Actg 484 may be counted toward the elective portion of the major. So this minor really requires only four extra courses if you take Actg 484.
Two courses. This will appear in your transcript and employers will value you this.
Required Course: Entr 454 – Entrepreneurship: New Venture Formation; One of Entr 464 – Entrepreneurial Consulting, Entr 430 – Family Business Management, Fin 444 – Small Business Finance. The third course requirement for this certificate is automatically satisfied for accounting majors.