Reply to Point/Counterpoint: Is the 150-Hour Requirement Really Progress? vs. The Demand for 150-Hours: Let the Market Decide.

Abstract The article presents the author's reply to comments on his views regarding mandating additional education for persons entering the public accounting profession. There are persuasive points from both sides, but it seems appropriate to look to the facts to see what has happened to the supply and demand for accounting graduates over the past two decades. Exhibit 1 presents the raw numbers of accounting graduates demanded in each year from 1971 through 1994. The main point to be drawn from the data is that the demand for masters has remained flat over the 24-year period while the demand for bachelors has more than doubled. Exhibit 2 shows that the demand for masters has declined from 20-25% of the total in the early 1970s to 10-15% in the early 1990s. Exhibit 3 presents a pattern similar to the one seen for demand: the number of masters degrees has remained low while the number of bachelors has doubled. Exhibit 4 shows that the percent of total degrees that were granted to masters has stayed low and very close to 10% of the total output. Exhibit 5 focuses on the supply and demand for masters. Thus, it may be possible that the 150-hour requirement, which was first conceived in the early 1970s, is an idea whose time has come and gone.