Sample college curriculum for an accounting major

To give you an idea of what kinds of courses you'll be taking in college, we have provided below an example of a program that may be offered at a college or university near you. It may look like a lot now, but an accounting major prepares you to climb the ladder of success with one of the most well-rounded educations available.

General Education (60-80 hours)

• Ethics
• Communication
• Behavioral sciences
• Economics
• Elementary accounting
• Computers
• Mathematics and statistics
• Other general education (i.e., history, philosophy, literature, language arts, humanities and sciences)
• Electives

Education in Business Administration (35-50 hours)

• Economics (theory and monetary system)
• Legal and social environment of business
• Business law
• Marketing
• Finance
• Organization, group and individual behavior
• Quantitative applications in business
• Communication skills
• Business ethics
• Electives

Accounting Education (25-40 hours)

• Financial accounting
• Financial accounting theory
• Applied financial accounting problems
• Managerial accounting
• Accounting for decision making
• Cost determination and analysis
• Management accounting controls
• Taxes
• Tax theory
• Tax problems
• Auditing
• Audit theory and practice
• The computer in auditing
• Audit problems and case studies
• Information systems
• Professional ethics and responsibilities
• Internships and cooperative programs
• Electives

Ohio requires students to have 150-semester hours of college education (225 quarter hours) to be eligible to take the Uniform CPA Exam. Ohio is one of 48 states to adopt this law -- the other states will implement the "150-hour requirement" over the course of the next few years.

High School resources

College resources

CPA exam

Educators