RIP, 150-hour rule

The 150-hour rule might not officially be dead, but it’s certainly on life support.

In April of this year alone, three states passed legislation that permits candidates to earn CPA licensure without any additional coursework beyond a bachelor’s degree. In Kansas, Kentucky, and Maryland, prospective CPAs can now get the credential with a four-year degree and two years of work experience, plus passing the CPA exam.

These three states are among the 38 states that have passed legislation or whose boards of accountancy have made rule changes since 2025, when the AICPA and NASBA amended accountancy’s model legislation to allow for new pathways to licensure.

Ten other states have changes in progress, according to the Minnesota Society of CPAs’ tracker. Florida’s 2026 legislative session ended without passing a bill, and Montana passed a law that only removed the 150-hour law, according to the Minnesota Society.

Candidates can still opt for the older pathways to licensure in most states. That can involve earning either a master’s or a bachelor’s degree plus 30 additional credit hours; gaining one year of experience; and passing the CPA exam.

The new flexibility, many in the profession hope, will attract new talent to the accounting profession. Critics of the 150-hour rule had charged that it acted as a barrier to entry because students didn’t want to incur the costs of a master’s degree or an additional 30 credit hours of college courses. (Enrollments in accounting programs have risen in the past three years, though that trend predates the changes to licensure.)

Perhaps we should start referring to it as the “150-hour suggestion”?