Can you sit for the CPA exam before you graduate?

Last reviewed 2026-10-04

In 26 of the 55 jurisdictions, yes. 13 require no degree to sit at all, and 13 let you sit within a set period before the degree or education is complete. In the other 28 the education required to sit has to be finished before you test, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is not taking exam applications. Enter your own hours below, or find your jurisdiction in the table, which answers the same question without the checker.

Check your own hours

What it checksTotal, accounting and business hours, and when your degree is conferred. It cannot see which of your accounting courses count as upper level, so read the rule it prints with your transcript in front of you. Nothing you enter leaves this page.

Which jurisdictions let you sit for the CPA exam without a degree?

Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Wisconsin. 10 of them still set a total of credit hours, usually 120, with the coursework inside it, so the degree itself is not the bar. Arkansas, Georgia, Montana set no total either and name accounting coursework alone. The license still needs the full education later.

Which jurisdictions let you sit for the CPA exam shortly before you finish your degree?

13 of the 55, each on its own terms:

• Alaska lets you sit before you graduate once you are within 18 semester hours of finishing your bachelor's degree.
• Guam lets you sit up to 18 months before you complete the education requirement, if you are an upper-division student in an accredited program or accepted into an accredited graduate program.
• Hawaii lets you sit before you finish your degree and accounting hours, as long as you complete them within 120 days after your first exam.
• Illinois lets you sit during your final term, provided the board receives your final transcripts within 150 days after your first exam section.
• Iowa lets you sit if you will complete a bachelor's degree with an accounting concentration within 120 days after the exam, though scores are not released until you do.
• Kansas lets you sit if you reasonably expect to complete your bachelor's degree and accounting concentration within 60 days after your first exam section, with final transcripts due within 120 days after that section.
• Massachusetts lets you sit before you finish your 120 hours and bachelor's degree, as long as you send a certified transcript showing both within 90 days after you sit.
• Minnesota lets you sit up to 90 days before you expect to finish your degree and accounting coursework, as long as you finish within 120 days of your first section.
• Missouri lets you sit while still enrolled, as long as you will finish your accounting concentration and degree within 90 days after the exam and file your transcripts and a certificate of enrollment at least 30 days before you test.
• North Carolina lets you sit before your degree is conferred, as long as your accounting concentration will be complete by the end of the term in which you test and you expect the degree within 120 days after the Board approves your application.
• Ohio lets you sit up to 180 days before you complete a bachelor's degree that meets the accounting and business course requirements.
• South Dakota lets you sit if you will obtain your bachelor's or graduate degree, with an accounting concentration, within 100 days after taking the exam.
• Vermont lets you sit while your remaining coursework finishes, up to 60 days after the exam.

Can you sit for the CPA exam with 100 credit hours?

Possibly, in 12 of the 55: Arkansas, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota. Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota let you apply while still finishing your education, as long as you finish inside the window. Everywhere else you need more hours or a finished degree first, so check your own figures with the checker above.

Do quarter hours count toward the credit hours to sit?

Yes, converted. Boards count a quarter hour as two thirds of a semester hour, so 180 quarter hours equal 120 semester hours and 153 equal 102. The checker converts them when you choose quarter hours.

Every jurisdiction

Confirm these with the boardColorado, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Delaware, Georgia, Guam, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, US Virgin Islands, Vermont. Each was read from the board's summary rather than its rule, or the sources disagree, and each state page says which.

Each rule was read from the board's own administrative rule, statute or current requirements page on or after 2026-10-04, then handed to a second pass instructed to refute it, and disagreements were settled by reading the source again. Each state page carries its citation and source link. Credit hours to license, fees and the 150-hour pathways are on the requirements by state pages and the 150-hour rule tracker.

Studying for the CPA exam

PocketCPA covers all six CPA exam sections with 11,896 questions, each cited to the specific standard or statute it tests, and 1,071 lesson pages written from primary source text. A nine-item sample of every section is open with no account.