Maryland

(A) Eligibility for Examination

To qualify for the examination, you must complete:

(1) Unless otherwise indicated, a minimum of 27 undergraduate semester hours of accounting education to include each of the following subjects:

• (a) Auditing of at least 3 undergraduate semester hours;
• (b) Financial accounting of at least 9 undergraduate semester hours;
• (c) Accounting information systems of at least 3 undergraduate semester hours; and
• (d) U.S. federal income tax of at least 3 undergraduate semester hours; and

(2) At least 3 undergraduate semester hours in:

• (a) Business ethics; or
• (b) Accounting ethics.

(B) Licensure Education Requirement

In order to become licensed, in addition to satisfactorily completing the requirements set forth in A of this regulation, an applicant shall satisfactorily complete 3 undergraduate semester hours in business law and a minimum of 18 undergraduate semester hours in the following business-related subjects, including 3 undergraduate semester hours in at least five of the following subjects:

• (1) Statistics;
• (2) Economics;
• (3) Corporation or business finance;
• (4) Management;
• (5) Data analytics;
• (6) Marketing;
• (7) Business communication;
• (8) Information technology/systems;
• (9) Quantitative methods; or
• (10) Other business-related content areas included in the Uniform CPA Examination Blueprints.

(C) Section

The following may be accepted as fulfilling a part or all of the semester hours requirement under A of this regulation, at either the graduate or undergraduate level, if the accredited institution granting the credits reports the credits on an official transcript without qualification or limitation and if the credits are acceptable by the accredited institution in the institution’s own graduate or undergraduate degree-granting programs:

• (1) Independent study courses;
• (2) Correspondence courses;
• (3) College Level Entrance Programs (CLEP); and
• (4) Credits earned only by examination.

(D) Section

If qualification is sought on the basis of a combination of graduate and undergraduate courses:

• (1) 3 undergraduate level semester hours shall be considered equivalent to 2 graduate level semester hours; and
• (2) A higher than baccalaureate degree is not required to fulfill this requirement.

(E) Section

If qualification is sought on the basis of a combination of semester and quarter hour courses:

• (1) 1 undergraduate level quarter hour shall be considered equivalent to .667 semester hours; and
• (2) 1 graduate level quarter hour shall be considered equivalent to 1 undergraduate semester hour.

(F) Section

If an applicant has received an accounting degree, or has taken course work to supplement a non-accounting degree, at a school or college that is not a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business or not accredited as provided by Business Occupations and Professions Article, Title 2, Annotated Code of Maryland, the Board may:

• (1) Seek the advice of consultants as to the academic standing of the institution;
• (2) Charge the applicant the reasonable cost of the consultation;
• (3)Upon receipt of the report of the consultants, the Board may decide to reject, or to accept within its lawful discretion, either:
  • (a) The entire academic program; or
  • (b) Any part of the academic program.

(G) Section

If only a part of the academic program is accepted under F(3)(b) of this regulation, the Board shall specify the courses to be taken at an accredited institution for the applicant to qualify.

Transcripts

If you who have completed the educational requirement at the time of application:

• You must submit an official transcript from each school you attended. Transfer credits are not acceptable; you must submit a transcript from each institution.
• Official transcripts are those that have been issued by the institution’s Registrar’s Office and include the Registrar’s official seal.
• The degree you have earned must be posted on your official transcript.
• Transcripts may be submitted electronically provided they are official. Some schools do not offer this service. Contact your Registrar’s office for additional information. If an email address is required for electronic delivery, use [email protected]. Electronically delivered transcripts must be submitted directly from the institution(s).
• Photocopies of transcripts are not official and cannot be accepted.
• Please Note: If you have not yet applied when you submit your transcripts, your education documents will be kept on file for one year. After that time, the documents will be destroyed, and you will need to resubmit new education documents when you apply.
• If you completed courses at a campus located outside the U.S. for a school located in the U.S., the official transcript must be issued by the registrar from the U.S. campus. Transcripts issued by the registrar for the campus located outside the U.S. will not be accepted.

If you have completed educational requirements at institutions outside the U.S., you must:

• Have your credentials evaluated by NASBA International Evaluation Services,
• Require the agency to evaluate as follows:
  • An equivalency summary that indicates the analogous academic degrees in the U.S. you hold;
  • A credential analysis that specifies:
    • The name of the country;
    • The degree awarded;
    • The year the degree was awarded; and
    • The entity that awarded the degree;
  • A course-by-course listing; and
  • A course credit analysis that includes:
    • Total credits earned toward the degree as stated on transcripts submitted;
    • Total accounting credits earned; and
    • Total business credits earned.
• Completed original evaluations must be received by CPAES directly from the evaluation service at the time of application. Photocopies are not acceptable.
• A copy of the international transcript must be included with the report sent to NASBA for each individual evaluation from the evaluation service. The application will be considered incomplete without these documents and the processing of the application will not move forward until transcripts are provided.
• Please Note: If you have not yet applied, education documents received will be kept on file for one year. After that time, these documents will be destroyed, and you will need to resubmit new education documents at the time of application.
• If you completed courses at a campus located outside the U.S. for a school located in the U.S., the official transcript must be issued by the registrar from the U.S. campus. Transcripts issued by the registrar for the campus located outside the U.S. will not be accepted.
• Education requirements must be met through academic coursework completed at an accredited institution. Professional training is not acceptable toward these requirements. Coursework completed as part of a Chartered Accountant or similar program is considered professional training and is, therefore, not accepted toward the education requirements for the U.S. Uniform CPA Examination.

Course Requirements

• Correspondence, online courses, pass/fail grades and CLEP credit are acceptable when you receive credit for the courses at a regionally accredited university. These courses must appear on an official transcript.
• Duplicate courses are not Courses covering essentially the same subject mater, regardless of course title will only be counted once.

Residency

There is not a residency requirement for the state of Maryland.

1. An official transcript from each school listed on your Transcripts must be sent directly from your school to CPA Examination Services.
2. International Evaluation, if Directly from evaluation agency to CPAES.
3. SSN Certification Submission by you to CPAES.
4. Testing Accommodations Request Form, if Submission by you to CPAES.

Please allow two to four weeks from your file completion date (when application, fees and all additional required materials have been received) for your application to be processed. Acknowledgment of receipt of application will be sent to you via email, unless otherwise indicated. This notice is sent only as acknowledgment of receipt of application.

Applicants with Disabilities

In accordance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, examination administration accommodations are available, should you qualify. Please download the Testing Accommodations Request Form for more information.

Education Evaluation Application

Before you can apply for an exam section you must first be deemed eligible for the CPA Exam. Your Evaluation Application will determine if you meet the educational requirements needed to take the CPA Exam for your selected jurisdiction.

Education Evaluation Application Fee: $93.00

Exam Section Application

Once you have been found eligible for the CPA Exam you may then apply for a specific exam section. You can only apply for one exam section per application. You are advised to only apply for the exam section if you are ready to take it. Your Notice to Schedule will be valid for a limited amount of time, and you must take the exam section listed on the NTS within this time frame or you will lose those fees paid.

Exam Section Application Fee: $355.64

Refund Policy

There is no provision for withdrawing from the examination and/or requesting an extension of your current Notices to Schedule (NTS). Application and/or examination fees are not refundable. If you have an extreme circumstance, you may request an NTS extension or a partial refund of your examination fees under specific circumstances utilizing the Exception to Policy Form.

Candidates are allowed to sit for each section of the examination individually and in any order. Candidates retain credit for any section(s) passed for thirty (30) months, without having to attain a minimum score on failed sections and without regard to whether they have taken other sections. Candidates must pass all four sections of the examination within a “rolling” thirty (30)-month period that begins on the date of the score release. In the event all four sections of the examination are not passed within the rolling thirty (30)-month period, credit for any section(s) passed outside the thirty (30)-month period will expire and the section(s) must be retaken.

Written requests for exceptions to the requirements set forth above may be granted at the discretion of the Board for individual hardship or other good cause demonstrated in a timely manner.