Meeting the 150-hour requirement: the impact of curriculum choice on satisfaction

Abstract

This paper reports on a study that examined the impact of type of curriculum on CPA exam candidates' satisfaction with their college preparation in four areas: general skills, accounting skills, general business skills, and information technology skills. CPA candidate respondents were classified into one of four groups depending on the curriculum choice they made in order to meet the 150-hour requirement: (1) those who completed a master's level accountancy degree program, (2) those who completed an MBA with an accounting concentration, (3) those who completed other graduate degrees (e.g. a general business MBA), and (4) those who completed additional undergraduate credits. Respondents who completed a master's level accountancy degree program were consistently more satisfied than the other three groups with respect to general, accounting, and information technology skills. Respondents who met the 150-hour requirement by taking additional undergraduate credits were consistently less satisfied than the other three groups with respect to general, accounting, and information technology skills. For business skills, there was little evidence of any significant difference in satisfaction between the four groups. Implications for accounting education and the accounting profession are discussed.