Update on the AICPA Pipeline Acceleration Plan

The AICPA continues to work on the Pipeline Acceleration Plan, a set of initiatives aimed at addressing root causes of the declining number of students becoming licensed CPAs. This article provides updates on select key provisions of particular interest to academics:

• The Experience, Learn & Earn program;
• The push for STEM recognition for accounting;
• High school and college initiatives; and
• Scholarships and other financial support for CPA candidates funded through the AICPA Foundation.

The Pipeline Acceleration Plan was released in draft form earlier this year and subsequently expanded and updated. AICPA governing Council members from across the country in May supported continued implementation of the plan and the creation of a collaborative process, convened by the AICPA, designed to result in a continuous, research-driven national pipeline strategy.

EXPERIENCE, LEARN & EARN PILOT

The AICPA and NASBA’s Experience, Learn & Earn (ELE) program is a pilot program launching this fall intended to provide a pathway for students who have earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting but who do not have the means or a plan to earn the additional up to 30 credit hours required for CPA licensure in a traditional master’s program. ELE is designed to combine meaningful online study integrated with early work experience. The ELE program will not grant a degree or certificate but will allow students who are between 120 and 150 credit hours to take up to 30 credit hours.

The ELE program supports the students’ goals of securing the additional credits required for licensure at an affordable rate while providing access to experiential learning and gainful employment at a participating CPA firm. Courses offered will be based on skills and competencies that firms have indicated are needed by their first-year staff.

Firms are expressing interest in having new staff members who have graduated with their bachelor’s degree in accounting participate in the pilot this fall. The ELE program provides firms and businesses with a recruiting tool to encourage employment and provide for educational support for young employees.

One of the ELE program’s three principles is that the program provides up to 30 credit hours from an accredited university. The pilot university will be named later this summer. Participants will receive a university transcript that is acceptable to their respective state boards of accountancy to qualify for a student’s CPA license application. Since a degree or certificate will not be granted, the ELE program is different from a master’s program.

Following the pilot, the intent is to continue to grow the program and engage a larger pool of universities. The AICPA and NASBA will issue a request for proposal (RFP), also later this summer, so that more universities may join the program. We anticipate that the proposals in response to the RFP will be due in November 2023 for participation in Fall 2024.

An AICPA Town Hall segment on the ELE program is available on YouTube.

STEM RECOGNITION

The Pipeline Acceleration Plan includes a multipronged effort to gain recognition for accounting as a STEM field to highlight the versatility of accounting careers and to allow access to federal STEM education funding and other beneficial policies for students and prospective employers.

Bills introduced in May in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives would amend the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program to also promote awareness of accounting as a part of STEM in K-12 education.

The House bill, H.R. 3541, was introduced by Reps. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) and Young Kim (R-Calif.). The Senate bill, S.1705, was introduced by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.).

The AICPA-sponsored Politico article, “7 Reasons Why Accounting Should Join Other Tech Professions as a STEM Field,” is a resource to share with students, deans, department chairs, state and federal policymakers, and key stakeholders. A PDF version is also available. We encourage accounting educators to reach out to your legislators and other key constituents and share this information. We have also drafted template letters that you can edit and send to your members of Congress, asking them to co-sponsor this important legislation. We also encourage you to send letters of thanks for those representatives and senators who have already done so.

Separately, the AICPA and other stakeholders continue to work with colleges and universities to expand accounting curricula to include additional technology-focused courses and to reclassify their accounting programs to reflect STEM curricula, including the use of Classification of Instructional Program codes that align with Department of Homeland Security-approved STEM codes. More information is available here.

Additionally, the AICPA continues to nominate CIP codes to secure a STEM designation through the Department of Homeland Security.

HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE INITIATIVES

The AICPA, educators, state CPA societies, and other key stakeholders have a slate of activities and initiatives ongoing and planned at the high school and college levels to support the growth of the CPA pipeline. AICPA initiatives include, but are not limited to, supporting:

• Accounting Opportunities Week, piloted in 2022, as a collaboration between state CPA societies and the AICPA to raise awareness of accounting career opportunities among high school students by providing resources to bring CPAs into the classrooms. The second event is scheduled tentatively for November.
• AICPA & CIMA Student Ambassador Program students who champion CPA across digital platforms and AICPA events. The purpose of the program is to build trust, foster relationships, and provide leadership opportunities for students.
• DECA, Business Professionals of America (BPA), and other student organizations by providing resources and exhibiting at their events.

To enhance the student, CPA candidate, and educator experience, AICPA & CIMA have consolidated the websites “Start Here Go Places” and “This Way to CPA” into a single point of entry for accounting students and educators. The site has updated messaging and navigation to improve engagement, reduce confusion, and better promote the profession.

AICPA student membership was extended to high school students this year. Student membership continues to be free and provides members with access to a webinar series that discusses exciting accounting careers, including forensic accounting, and sustainability matters. Membership also provides access to scholarship opportunities described in the AICPA Foundation section below.

Social media platforms such as TikTok have become powerful tools in reaching high school and college students and communicating the dynamic nature of the accounting profession. Our TikTok follower count continues to grow and is currently more than 16,000. These initiatives resulted in 12,000 new student members in 2022 and an anticipated 16,000 new student members in 2023. These newly established connections are helping to drive awareness of accounting profession career opportunities.

Resources such as blogs and videos are being developed, based on polling of CPA firms, to help CPA candidates align their final credit hours with skills that firm employers are seeking in new hires.

The AICPA works with the academic community to support the CPA pipeline via our Academic Executive Committee and AICPA Academic Champions. One exciting initiative is exploring ways to make Introduction to Accounting a more engaging course as it is a gateway to the profession.

AICPA Academic Champions act as CPA advocates and share university best practices. This program has a priority focus on increasing the number of students pursuing CPA licensure. The AICPA is also exploring how to best leverage its college and university initiatives with state CPA societies. Specific strategies are being developed to promote accounting and the CPA via engagement with:

• Online universities;
• Universities with large diverse populations, including historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs); and
• National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion (NCDI) diversity partners.

Other initiatives, supporting faculty as they grow the CPA pipeline, include:

• Monthly free Faculty Hour webcasts, providing faculty with the latest relevant information from the profession, such as updates to the CPA Exam, that impact accounting education.
• Academic Update newsletter, sent to over 13,000 accounting educators, again providing the latest information from the profession about teaching and research in accounting. You can subscribe for free here.
• Academic Resource Hub, including the Academic Resource Database, with over 400 free educational resources, and links to other opportunities for faculty, such as heavily discounted certificates and other learning (critical thinking, cybersecurity, ESG, etc.).

Lastly, the AICPA supports a variety of educator organizations in efforts to increase the pipeline, including the American Accounting Association (AAA), Teachers of Accounting at Two-Year Colleges (TACTYC), AACSB, ABCSP, the PhD Project, American School Counselor Association (ASCA), NAF, and the College Board.

AICPA FOUNDATION

The AICPA Foundation has shifted its focus to primarily helping students who plan to pursue CPA licensure or those who are currently CPA candidates. The Foundation, which is projected to award more than $2 million in scholarships and grants in 2023, will assist individuals with financial needs through a variety of scholarship programs. An estimated 60% of grants and scholarships are expected to go to diverse candidates in 2023 and future years.

The Foundation:

• Provides ongoing financial aid, scholarships, internships, and fellowship for those in need;

• Provides needed support for targeted students (must be pursuing CPA or Ph.D.); and

• Creates an annual cohort of grant recipients for promotion, mentoring, and monitoring.

The Foundation is exploring partnership and collaboration opportunities with state societies, review course providers, diversity partners, and others. To learn more about how you can partner with or support Foundation activities, email foundation@aicpa.org.

The AICPA Foundation offers more than $75,000 in scholarships for CPA Exam candidates and college accounting students. The CPA Exam Scholarship is available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are pursuing CPA licensure and who have financial need. Through the scholarship, up to 50 AICPA Student Affiliate members or AICPA CPA Exam Candidate Affiliate members will be granted up to $1,500 to help cover CPA Exam fees and prep courses and materials.

Applications for the CPA Exam Scholarship will be accepted through Sept. 30.

When viewed collectively, the combined giving of the Foundation and state societies is helping to make the pursuit of a CPA more affordable for more candidates.

ADDITIONAL INITIATIVES

The Pipeline Acceleration Plan includes additional efforts, such as support for expansion of the current 18-month timeframe for candidates to pass all parts of the CPA Exam. In April, NASBA voted to amend the model accountancy act to allow candidates 30 months from the time their first passing Exam section score is released. As of this writing, several states have already approved the 30-month rule. Exam candidates remain under the existing rules pending decisions by their respective state boards of accountancy about the recommended rule change. Read more here.  

The AICPA and state CPA societies are working with federal legislators on the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act (H.R. 1477), which would allow the use of Sec. 529 college savings plans to include expenses required to obtain or maintain postsecondary credentials, including CPA-related costs such as exam review courses.

Additionally, the AICPA is exploring a campaign to create positive awareness of the profession among middle and high school students. The initiative would build on the Center for Audit Quality’s Accounting+ initiative. The CAQ is affiliated with the AICPA. The AICPA will work with state society input and perspectives to draft a feasibility plan later this year.

For more on the Pipeline Acceleration Plan, access the full report and a synopsis here.

Jan Taylor, CPA, CGMA, Ph.D., is the Academic in Residence and Senior Director – Academic and Student Engagement for AICPA & CIMA.