Accreditation Matters
Accredited** by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) www.acbsp.org
Graduate Certificates
Earn your Graduate Certificate in CPA Preparation in as little as 1 year + 8 months*—or even more quickly with qualifying transfer credits.
Accredited** by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) www.acbsp.org
Keller’s Master’s in Accounting degree program integrates elements of Becker Professional Education’s industry-leading CPA Exam prep into its curriculum.
Education
Most states require you to hold a bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance or accounting. They also require you to have completed 150 credit hours of education, which may mean seeking further education depending on your degree program.
Work Experience
Most states also ask that you have a minimum of two years of experience working in public accounting.
CPA certification is a recognition from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). It shows that you passed the Uniform CPA Exam and met the education and experience requirements to take it. You must get your certification before you can become a licensed CPA.
To get your CPA certification, you must pass the Uniform CPA exam. The exam is broken into four sections, with each focusing on a different subject area: Business Environment and Concepts (BEC), Regulation (REG), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) and Auditing and Attestation (AUD).
All four sections must be taken and passed within an 18-month time frame to be considered valid. You will lose credit for any section passed outside the 18-month window and will have to retake that section to complete your certification.
Each state has specific requirements CPAs must meet to maintain their certification. However, Continuing Professional Education (CPE) is required in all states to ensure you’re up-to-date on skills and competencies. According to the AICPA, you must complete 120 hours of CPE for every three-year reporting period to maintain certification.
CPA certification qualifies you to apply to become a licensed CPA. As a licensed CPA, you can prepare for many potential career options, including public or corporate accounting. Many CPAs even hold executive-level positions.
CPAs can specialize in a number of areas, including tax preparation, forensic or managerial accounting, bookkeeping or information technology.
You may have a CPA certification, but you may only be a practicing CPA when you obtain a CPA license. You can only be licensed once you’ve:
CPA is not a degree, but certification and licensing in most states require you to have a bachelor’s degree in business administration, accounting or finance.
While you can take the Uniform CPA exam without specific educational prerequisites, most states require you to have a bachelor’s degree in accounting or a related field to become a licensed CPA. Some programs, like those offered through DeVry University and its Keller Graduate School of Management, include CPA Exam prep as part of the curriculum.
At DeVry University we offer a variety of Graduate Certificates and Master’s Degrees. Graduate programs related to the CPA Prep Certificate include:
Programs vary by location. For specific program details for Pennsylvania, refer to:
Pennsylvania catalog.
Credits and degrees earned from this institution do not automatically qualify the holder to participate in professional licensing exams to practice certain professions. Persons interested in practicing a regulated profession must contact the appropriate state regulatory agency for their field of interest.
Coursework may qualify for credit towards the State Board of Accountancy requirements. However, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the state board of accountancy for the jurisdiction in which they are applying to determine whether they have completed the appropriate credit hours and coursework to qualify to take the CPA exam.
Employees of DeVry University and its Keller Graduate School of Management are not in a position to determine an individual’s eligibility to take the CPA exam or satisfy licensing
New York students should contact the NYSED Office of Professions regarding professional licensure.
**Conferral and Assessment Data - Available for all of DeVry and Keller's ACBSP accredited programs. For a full list of DeVry University's business and accounting degree programs accredited by ACBSP, please see the Accreditation page.
All students enrolled in site-based programs will be required to take some coursework online and, for some programs and locations, a substantial portion of the program may be required to be completed online.
By Degree Level
By Area Of Study
By Location
Featured Programs
Tuition & Expenses
Degrees & Programs
Tuition & Financial Aid
Admissions
Student Experience
In New York, DeVry University operates as DeVry College of New York. DeVry University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), www.hlcommission.org. The University’s Keller Graduate School of Management is included in this accreditation. DeVry is certified to operate by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Arlington Campus: 1400 Crystal Dr., Ste. 120, Arlington, VA 22202. DeVry University is authorized for operation as a postsecondary educational institution by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, www.tn.gov/thec. Naperville Campus: 1200 E. Diehl Rd., Naperville, IL 60563. Unresolved complaints may be reported to the Illinois Board of Higher Education through the online compliant system https://complaints.ibhe.org/. View DeVry University’s complaint process https://www.devry.edu/compliance/student-complaint-procedure.html Program availability varies by location. In site-based programs, students will be required to take a substantial amount of coursework online to complete their program.
© DeVry Educational Development Corp. All rights reserved.