Committee to Examine the 1969 Report of the AICPA Committee on Education and Experience Requirements for CPAs.

Abstract The article highlights the report of the Committee to Examine the 1969 Report of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant (AICPA) Committee on Education and Experience Requirements for CPA. Committee members obtained the views of several members of state boards of accountancy and practicing accountants. A major effort of the committee was devoted to a questionnaire survey of its own design. Accounting department chairmen of selected schools were asked to give their reactions to the AICPA recommendations. The respondents were also asked to elaborate or provide comments on a number of their answers. In the event the experience requirements are eliminated, the desirability of student internships will be enhanced. Nevertheless, there are several characteristics that are highly desirable in the new CPA that many academicians and practitioners feel cannot be provided effectively by education and therefore should be attained through a certain amount of required practical experience. At the same time, the very desirable attributes gained through experience all seem to relate to the independent practice of public accounting, not to the CPA examination.