Oct. 3, 2023 update: The minutes from the Maryland Board of Public Accountancy’s Sept. 12 meeting state that experiential learning credits obtained through examination that meet the requirements of COMAR 09.24.05.03 (C) will be accepted for credit toward the education required for licensure. The post below omitted the COMAR requirement. The Board also noted that it is “supportive of“ experiential learning credits.

As noted in the post below, the Board agreed that experiential learning credits on an official transcript of a school, college, university, or other institution that is a member of an accrediting body included in 2-303(c) will be accepted as credits toward the education needed for licensure. The Board also agreed that work experience obtained through experiential learning that meets the requirements of 2-302(f) will count toward the minimum 2,000 hour’s experience required for licensure.

The views in this blog post are those of the author, Joe Petito, and not the Maryland State Board of Accountancy.

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At its Sept. 12 meeting, Maryland's State Board of Public Accountancy expressed its sense that experiential learning credits may be applied toward meeting the 150-hour education requirement, provided all other existing requirements contained in the Code of Maryland Regulations are met.

Experiential learning courses enable students to work part- or full-time while gaining academic credits.

The Board also clarified that the work utilized to obtain experiential learning credits can be applied toward the one-year experience requirement. Finally, the board noted that experiential learning credits could be obtained through testing.

Taken together, these motions can enable an individual interested in becoming a CPA to do so in less time and make becoming a CPA less expensive, as individuals will be able to work and earn income while learning to become a CPA.

The Board hopes its actions will encourage higher education institutions inside and outside the state to incorporate experiential learning as a means to increase the accounting pipeline, and especially facilitate minority and low-income students entering the profession.