Nebraska

Eligibility for Examination

As a first-time applicant, you must:

• Be a resident of Nebraska, regularly employed in Nebraska, or have a place of business in Nebraska; AND
• Bachelor’s degree or higher (any major) from a regionally accredited institution to include each of the following:
  • 120 semester hours of general college level education
  • 24 semester (36 quarter) hours in accounting beyond principles to include some or all of the following:
    • Financial Accounting Theory and Problems
    • Cost and Managerial Accounting
    • Tax Preparation and Planning
    • Auditing
    • Accounting Information Systems
    • Governmental and Not-for-Profit Accounting
  • 24 semester (36 quarter) hours in general business to some or all of the following:
    • Macro and Microeconomics
      • Note: both subjects must be covered; can be in the same course or separate courses
    • Business Law
    • Marketing
    • Management
    • Finance
    • Business Ethics
    • Principles of Accounting
    • Business Communication
    • Quantitative Applications in Business
    • Data Analytics

All educational requirements must be met at the time of application. Official school transcripts must be submitted to CPAES by you, and foreign evaluations are required to be submitted to CPAES directly from the evaluation service. For more information, refer to the Educational Requirements Guidelines. The most current version is located on the Board’s website.

Transcripts

If you have completed all educational requirements at the time of application:

• You must submit an official transcript from each school you attended.
• 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 educational credentials (including COEs) evaluated by:
  • NASBA International Evaluation Services, or
  • any member organization of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).
• 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

• Business law courses qualify only toward the 24 semester hours in general business and may not be counted to fulfill the accounting requirement.
• Credit earned at a two-year institution prior to conferral of a baccalaureate degree is acceptable only when transferred into a regionally accredited four-year university and the credit is applied toward your degree. Credit earned after conferral of a baccalaureate degree must be completed at a four-year institution. Up to 12 credit hours of electives may be earned at a two-year institution after conferral of a baccalaureate degree and does not need to be transferred into a four-year institution.
• Courses transferred from two-year to four-year institutions are not acceptable to meet the educational requirements unless they have been accepted for subject matter and credit hour requirements by the four-year institution for the purpose of awarding a degree. If transferred credit is not clearly posted on the transcript from the four-year institution, additional information from the four-year institution may be required.
• Correspondence, online courses 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.
• CPA Review Courses may be accepted when taken at a regionally accredited institution and credit is awarded for the courses.
• Commercial review courses are not acceptable.

Residency

You must be a resident of Nebraska, have a place of business, or be regularly employed in the state of Nebraska.

1. An official transcript from each school listed on your application.
2. Certificate of Enrollment, if applicable. Submission by you or school to CPAES.
3. International Evaluation, if applicable. Submission by you or evaluation agency to CPAES.
4. Testing Accommodations Request Form, if applicable. 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.

If you have previously applied and sat, but were currently enrolled in college at the time of application (Certificate of Enrollment form), you are not automatically considered a re-examination candidate.

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: $108.00

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.