The effect of the 150-hour requirement on the national number of Bachelor of Accounting degrees awarded

The purpose of this paper was to determine the effect of the 150-hour requirement on the number of accounting graduates. Research indicates that there has been a decline in the number of accounting graduates over the past 10 years. Some accounting practitioners and educators believe that adoption of the 150-hour requirement, which amounts to an additional year of coursework, has had a substantial negative impact on the number of accounting graduates. This research analyzed graduation data from accounting programs in states that had adopted the 150-hour requirement where three years of graduation data was available before and after the adoption of the requirement.; This research also analyzed data from institutions that have not adopted any legislation relating to the 150-hour requirement to determine if there is any correlation between institutions in adopting and non-adopting states.; This research indicated, based on a two-tailed t-test, that there was a significant difference in the three-year average number of accounting graduates before and after the adoption of the 150-hour requirement. However, further analysis indicates that there was already a downward trend in adopting institutions before the adoption of the 150-hour requirement. The research also showed that the percentage of accounting graduates remained at a relatively constant percentage of total business graduates over the eight-year period analyzed.; There was also a significant correlation between the trend in the number of accounting graduates from institutions in adopting states and institutions in non-adopting states. In fact, in some cases the decline in accounting graduates was more significant in institutions in non-adopting states. The total number of accounting graduates from all reporting institutions nationwide (totaling more than 1,500 institutions) also showed significant decline.; Other studies have indicated that the decline in interest in accounting programs is related more to the students' perception of accounting programs more than the 150-hour requirement. More research needs to be done to determine what factors affect a student's choice to enter the accounting profession.; There are already programs such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accounting's Champion Program (AICPA), which encourages a student membership and participation in AICPA sponsored events.