SECTION 511.57. Qualified Accounting Courses to take the UCPAE

(a) An applicant shall meet the board's accounting course requirements in one of the following ways:

(1) Hold a baccalaureate or higher degree from a board-recognized institution of higher education as defined by §511.52 of this chapter (relating to Recognized Institutions of Higher Education) and present official transcript(s) from board-recognized institution(s) that show degree credit for no fewer than 21 semester credit hours of upper division accounting courses as defined in subsections (e), (f) and (g) of this section; or

(2) Hold a baccalaureate or higher degree from a board-recognized institution of higher education as defined by §511.52 of this chapter, and after obtaining the degree, complete the requisite 21 semester credit hours of upper division accounting courses, as defined in subsections (e), (f) and (g) of this section, from four-year degree granting institutions, or accredited community colleges, provided that all such institutions are recognized by the board as defined by §511.52 or §511.54 of this chapter (relating to Recognized Texas Community Colleges).

(b) Credit for hours taken at board-recognized institutions of higher education using the quarter system shall be counted as 2/3 of a semester credit hour for each hour of credit received under the quarter system.

(c) The board will accept no fewer than 21 semester credit hours of accounting courses from the courses listed in subsections (e), (f) and (g) of this section. The hours from a course that has been repeated will be counted only once toward the required 21 semester hours. The courses must meet the board's standards by containing sufficient accounting knowledge and application to be useful to candidates taking the UCPAE. A board-recognized institution of higher education must have accepted the courses for purposes of obtaining a baccalaureate or higher degree or its equivalent, and they must be shown on an official transcript.

(d) Upper level accounting coursework recognized by the board and in effect prior to January 1, 2024, may be found in §511.60 of this chapter (relating to Qualified Accounting Courses Prior to January 1, 2024 to take the UCPAE).

(e) Effective January 1, 2024, the subject-matter content should be derived from the UCPAE Blueprint. A minimum of 12 semester hours with at least three semester hours in each of the following accounting course content areas is required:

(1) financial accounting and reporting for business organizations or intermediate accounting;

(2) financial statement auditing;

(3) taxation; and

(4) accounting information systems or accounting data analytics.

(f) Effective January 1, 2024, a minimum of 9 hours in any of the following accounting course content areas is required:

(1) up to 6 semester credit hours of additional financial accounting and reporting for business organizations or intermediate accounting;

(2) advanced accounting;

(3) accounting theory;

(4) managerial or cost accounting (excluding introductory level courses);

(5) auditing and attestation services;

(6) internal accounting control and risk assessment;

(7) financial statement analysis;

(8) accounting research and analysis;

(9) up to 9 semester credit hours of taxation (including tax research and analysis);

(10) financial accounting and reporting for governmental and/or other nonprofit entities;

(11) up to 9 semester credit hours of accounting information systems, including management information systems ("MIS"), provided the MIS courses are listed or cross-listed as accounting courses, and the institution of higher education accepts these courses as satisfying the accounting course requirements for graduation with a degree in accounting;

(12) up to 9 semester credit hours of accounting data analytics, provided the institution of higher education accepts these courses as satisfying the accounting course requirements for graduation with a degree in accounting; business data analytics may be considered provided the courses are listed or cross-listed as accounting courses, and the institution of higher education accepts these courses as satisfying the accounting course requirements for graduation with a degree in accounting; (while data analytics tools may be taught in the courses, application of the tools should be the primary objective of the courses);

(13) fraud examination;

(14) international accounting and financial reporting;

(15) mergers and acquisitions;

(16) financial planning;

(17) at its discretion, the board may accept up to three semester hours of credit of accounting course work with substantial merit in the context of a career in public accounting, provided the course work is predominantly accounting or auditing in nature but not included in paragraphs (1) - (16) of this subsection. For any course submitted under this provision, the Accounting Faculty Head or Chair must affirm to the board in writing the course's merit and content; and

(18) at its discretion, the board may accept up to three semester credit hours of independent study in accounting selected or designed by the student under faculty supervision. The curriculum for the course shall not repeat the curriculum of another accounting course that the student has completed.

(g) The following types of introductory courses do not meet the accounting course definition in subsections (e) and (f) of this section:

(1) elementary accounting;

(2) principles of accounting;

(3) financial and managerial accounting;

(4) introductory accounting courses; and

(5) accounting software courses.

(h) Any CPA review course offered by an institution of higher education or a proprietary organization shall not be used to meet the accounting course definition.

(i) CPE courses shall not be used to meet the accounting course definition.

(j) An ethics course required in §511.58(d) of this chapter (relating to Definitions of Related Business Subjects to take the UCPAE) shall not be used to meet the accounting course definition in subsections (e) and (f) of this section.

(k) Accounting courses completed through an extension school of a board recognized educational institution may be accepted by the board provided that the courses are accepted for a business baccalaureate or higher degree conferred by that educational institution.

(l) The board may review the content of accounting courses and determine if they meet the requirements of this section.

(m) Credits awarded for coursework taken through the following organizations and shown on a transcript from an institution of higher education may not be used to meet the requirements of this chapter:

(1) American College Education (ACE);

(2) Prior Learning Assessment (PLA);

(3) Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES);

(4) Defense Subject Standardized Test (DSST); and

(5) Straighterline.

Source Note: The provisions of this §511.57 adopted to be effective July 18, 1986, 11 TexReg 3104; amended to be effective November 8, 1988, 13 TexReg 5433; amended to be effective April 19, 1989, 14 TexReg 1743; amended to be effective August 29, 1990, 15 TexReg 4645; amended to be effective November 27, 1991, 16 TexReg 6647; amended to be effective December 18, 1996, 21 TexReg 11789; amended to be effective August 21, 1997, 22 TexReg 7487; amended to be effective December 11, 1997, 22 TexReg 12054; amended to be effective April 6, 1998, 23 TexReg 3448; amended to be effective October 17, 1999, 24 TexReg 8750; amended to be effective February27, 2000, 25 TexReg 1376; amended to be effective February 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 1180; amended to be effective October 13, 2005, 30 TexReg 6433; amended to be effective October 12, 2006, 31 TexReg 8368; amended to be effective January 28, 2009, 34 TexReg 430; amended to be effective October 7, 2009, 34 TexReg 6854; amended to be effective April 11, 2012, 37 TexReg 2406; amended to be effective October 10, 2012, 37 TexReg 8018; amended to be effective August 7, 2013, 38 TexReg 4895; amended to be effective February 8, 2017, 42 TexReg 423; amended to be effective June 6, 2018, 43 TexReg 3593; amended to be effective October 10, 2018, 43 TexReg 6643; amended to be effective August 5, 2020, 45 TexReg 5351; amended to be effective June 2, 2021, 46 TexReg 3402; amended to be effective February 2, 2022, 47 TexReg 301; amended to be effective April 12, 2023, 48 TexReg 1828; amended to beeffective November 29, 2023, 48 TexReg 6909