The AICPA and NASBA are preparing to launch a program to help accounting graduates access affordable online courses while they work as first-year hires at public accounting firms.
The program is designed to offer firms of all sizes some relief to talent shortages while helping recent graduates reach the 150-credit hour requirement.
The Experience, Learn & Earn (ELE) program will make it possible for students to enter firms immediately after earning their bachelor’s degree. ELE will combine traditional coursework and experiential learning in an on-demand online format to provide maximum flexibility for participants. As such, participants can be from any state.
The ELE program pilot will launch in fall 2023. After the pilot, the program will be expanded to match demand.
Why is there a need for the ELE program?
Some students face hurdles when attempting to earn 150 credit hours and reaching CPA licensure. These include:
Lack of resources to complete the credit hours they need after graduating with their bachelor’s degree in accounting, whether that’s the cost of education and/or opportunity costs.
Lack of awareness of options to meet the 150-credit hour requirement.
Lack of attraction to the profession.
How will the ELE program help participants succeed?
The impetus behind the ELE program is to help participants who are struggling with the means or a plan to earn 150 hours of credit. ELE combines online courses with early work experience and entry into a firm to provide flexibility, increased accessibility, and the rigor participants need to advance in their accounting career.
This is achieved through three principles:
Cost-effectiveness: Less than or equal to the average cost per credit hour of community college. The total cost per participant is expected to be to be under $5,000, if they need the full 30 hours, and less if fewer credit hours are required.
Up to 30 academically rigorous credit hours: Customizable so that participants only earn credits they need, while also receiving valuable work experience. The curriculum will include topics based on skills and competencies first-year hires need, a value proposition for both the firm and participants, as the latter will be upskilled in areas that will broaden their knowledge. In turn, participants will become more valuable to the firm. Firms that participate in the ELE program must commit to a protected amount of time for participants to complete their academic requirements.
Scalable by firm size: Firms of all sizes can participate, which will provide the candidate volume to build the program with university partners. Furthermore, firms can tailor the experience to fit their needs. For example, a firm may not want its participants to take courses during busy season and instead allocate time for coursework during other parts of the year.
“Smaller firms always struggle to match not only compensation but benefits, including tuition reimbursement, exam fees, and study time off,” said former AICPA Chair Bill Pirolli, CPA. ELE will allow students to start at 120 and work a flexible schedule while allowing the firm to potentially participate in the tuition reimbursement,” Pirolli said.
As more universities are added to the program, the AICPA and NASBA will consider bringing on a third-party administrator to manage the administration of the student and firm experience with university partners.
The path through the ELE program
After completing their core accounting courses and graduating with a bachelor’s degree, with less than 150 credit hours, participants in the ELE program will follow a prescribed path:
Join firm as a first-year hire, not as an intern.
Work flexible hours for commensurate pay and are allocated time to complete up to 30 online credit hours. This helps remove the burden of needing to take additional time to complete coursework before starting a job. The firm will ensure that participants’ work and study are balanced so that participants succeed.
Gain experience and advance in their accounting career. As part of this, courses will be listed on an accredited university transcript acceptable for licensure by state boards.
Continue career at the firm after completing program.
Measuring the impact of the ELE program
Program success will be measured through feedback from participating firms (firm recruitment is beginning) and students and completion rates from university partners. As an asynchronous online program, ELE can flex to include a large number of participants in a short amount of time. As the AICPA and NASBA continue to develop the program, they will invite more universities to respond to an RFP for the post-pilot phase, which will help increase its capacity for volume of students.