Extremely convenient and affordable self-paced courses!
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If you’re searching for the cheapest way to earn the extra credit hours you need for your CPA license, CLEP exams probably look attractive at first glance. At around $89 per exam, the math seems almost too good to be true — 30 credits for under $1,000, done in a matter of weeks.
Unfortunately, for most CPA candidates, it really is too good to be true. CLEP exams come with a critical catch that isn’t well advertised, and thousands of candidates have learned it the hard way: state boards of accountancy don’t accept CLEP scores directly — they require credits that appear on a transcript from a regionally accredited college or university.
That distinction sounds minor. It isn’t. This article explains exactly how CLEP works, why it creates serious problems for CPA candidates, and what to do instead.
CLEP — the College-Level Examination Program — is a testing program run by College Board that allows students to earn college credit by passing a standardized exam rather than sitting through a course. There are 34 exams covering subjects ranging from introductory accounting to U.S. history to Spanish.
The appeal is obvious: study on your own, pay $89, pass the exam, earn credit. For general college credit, CLEP can be a legitimate shortcut.
But for CPA licensure purposes, the process is far more complicated — and far less reliable.
Here’s the fundamental issue most candidates don’t realize until it’s too late:
Your state board of accountancy does not evaluate CLEP scores. They evaluate transcripts from accredited institutions.
What that means in practice: you can’t simply pass a CLEP exam and submit your score to your state board. The CLEP score itself has no standing with any state board. For the credits to count toward your CPA licensure requirements, they must:
Maryland’s Board of Public Accountancy makes this explicit in its published guidelines, stating that credits earned through AP, CLEP, DANTES, or ACE must appear on a regionally accredited college transcript and that credits earned at third-party non-educational facilities are not acceptable.
Georgia is more direct: CLEP courses are not accepted by the Georgia State Board of Accountancy for CPA requirements — full stop.
Even when you find an institution willing to award credit for CLEP scores, you run into the accreditation problem.
State boards overwhelmingly require credits to come from regionally accredited institutions. Regional accreditation is the gold standard in U.S. higher education, awarded by organizations like:
Many of the institutions that most readily award credit for CLEP scores — particularly online platforms, testing services, and some for-profit schools — are nationally accredited rather than regionally accredited. National accreditation is a lower standard and is frequently not recognized by state boards of accountancy.
The result: you pass the CLEP exam, pay an institution to award the credits, receive a transcript — and then discover your state board won’t accept it.
Let’s say you do the homework and find a regionally accredited institution that awards credit for CLEP scores. You’re still not in the clear.
Most state boards require a specific number of credit hours in accounting and business subjects — not just any college credits. The CLEP exam catalog includes only a handful of accounting or business-related exams:
Many of these are introductory-level courses. Most state boards require upper-level accounting credits specifically, and introductory courses often don’t satisfy that requirement. Connecticut’s state board, for example, requires a minimum of 24 semester hours in accounting-specific courses at the appropriate level.
Becker — one of the most widely used CPA exam prep providers — notes that while CLEP exams may help meet the overall 150-hour count, candidates generally can’t use them in place of the required accounting and business courses.
Even regionally accredited schools vary widely in which CLEP exams they recognize and how many credits they award for each. An institution might award 3 credits for Financial Accounting but nothing for Introductory Business Law. You’d need to research each institution’s policy individually for each exam you’re considering — a time-consuming process with no guaranteed outcome.
Even when CLEP credits are awarded and accepted, they’re typically classified as lower-division (100–200 level) coursework. Many state boards require upper-division or graduate-level accounting credits as part of the 150-hour requirement. Lower-division CLEP credits may fill your total hour count without satisfying your subject-matter requirements.
When CPA candidates do the full accounting (no pun intended) of what the CLEP path actually costs, it’s often not as cheap as it initially appears:
| Cost Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| CLEP exam fee (per exam) | $89 |
| Unofficial score report | $20+ |
| Transcript fee from credit-awarding institution | $50–$150 per institution |
| Credit enrollment/admin fee at some institutions | $25–$200 |
| Study materials per exam | $30–$100 |
| Total per exam (estimated) | $200–$550 |
Multiply that across 8–10 exams to reach 30 credits, and you’re potentially looking at $2,000–$5,500 — before accounting for the time and risk of discovering that your state board won’t accept the credits after the fact.
Compare that to a straightforward online course from a regionally accredited institution designed specifically for CPA candidates, where accreditation and state board acceptance are already built in, and the CLEP advantage largely disappears.
If your goal is to earn the extra credits you need for your CPA license as efficiently and affordably as possible — without the accreditation uncertainty — here are the options that actually work:
This is the most popular choice for working CPA candidates. Services like CpaCredits.com offer individual, self-paced courses through regionally accredited partner universities. You take exactly the courses you need, complete them on your own schedule, and receive an official transcript sent directly to your state board.
Why it’s better than CLEP:
Cost: Typically $75–$150 per credit — comparable to or cheaper than the real all-in cost of CLEP once you factor in fees.
Regionally accredited community colleges offer courses at $150–$300 per credit for in-state students. Credits are universally recognized by state boards. The tradeoff is flexibility — you’re on a semester schedule — but accreditation is never in question.
For candidates who want a formal credential alongside their credits, graduate certificate programs and master’s degrees in accounting remain reliable options. They’re more expensive, but they eliminate all accreditation uncertainty.
CPA education requirements vary by state, and what works in one state may not work in another. Before enrolling in any program — CLEP, online courses, community college, or otherwise — take these steps:
At CpaCredits.com, we offer a free transcript evaluation that maps your current credits against your state board’s specific requirements and tells you exactly which courses to take — without the guesswork.
Get your free transcript evaluation →
Can CLEP credits ever count toward CPA licensure? In some states, yes — but only if the credits appear on a transcript from a regionally accredited institution, and only for subjects that meet your state board’s content requirements. The path to making this work is complicated, and many candidates who attempt it discover too late that their specific state board doesn’t accept the credits. Always confirm directly with your state board before pursuing this route.
Why does Georgia explicitly reject CLEP credits? Georgia’s State Board of Accountancy has determined that CLEP credits don’t meet their education standards for CPA licensure, regardless of which institution awards them. Other states may have similar policies that aren’t as explicitly publicized.
Are online courses treated the same as in-person courses by state boards? Yes, in most states — provided the courses come from a regionally accredited institution. The delivery method (online vs. in-person) generally doesn’t matter; what matters is the accreditation of the institution awarding the credit.
What if I already took CLEP exams thinking they’d count? Contact your state board directly and ask whether those specific credits — as awarded by your specific institution — meet their requirements. If they don’t, you’ll need to supplement with credits from a qualifying regionally accredited source. A transcript evaluation can help you figure out exactly where you stand.
Is there a cheap, fast, reliable alternative to CLEP for CPA credits? Yes — self-paced online courses from regionally accredited institutions. They’re faster than community college, more reliable than CLEP, and significantly cheaper than a master’s degree. CpaCredits.com was built specifically for this purpose.
CpaCredits.com partners with regionally accredited universities to offer self-paced, affordable online courses for CPA candidates. All transcripts are sent directly to your state board of accountancy — no accreditation uncertainty, no logistics headaches.
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