Illinois CPA Requirements

Illinois State Requirements & Education Options

General Requirement

Applicant shall be at least 18 years of age or older.

Education Requirement

Beginning January 1, 2019, an applicant must provide proof of successful completion of:

150 semester credit hours of college or university study with an accounting concentration or equivalent that includes Managerial Accounting, Taxation, Financial Accounting, Audit; and

A baccalaureate or higher degree; and

Meet one (1) of the following three (3) options

Earned a graduate degree from an accounting program that is accredited in accounting by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board;

Earned a graduate degree from a business or accounting program that is accredited in business by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board and completed at least 30 SCH in accounting;

Earned a baccalaureate or higher degree from an accredited education institution recognized by the Board with 30 SCH in accounting and at least 24 SCH in business other than accounting including two (2) SCH hours in Business Communication and three (3) SCH in Business Ethics.

Education earned from a foreign institution must be evaluated by NASBA’s International Evaluation Service (NIES) – applicants must submit the evaluation application, fee and foreign transcripts directly to NIES. Applicants who may have domestic credits in addition to the foreign, must submit the domestic evaluation application or total transfer of credit application and appropriate fee through the Illinois Board online system. You can review the Foreign Evaluation Application Process instructions online.