state eligibility guide
Rhode Island CPA exam requirements
Rhode Island requires bachelor's or qualifying graduate degree and 120 semester hours for CPA exam eligibility. NASBA CPA Examination Services (CPAES) makes the final eligibility decision.
Published by Kesler CPA Review, a commercial CPA exam preparation company. This page is educational, not legal advice. The Board or application authority makes the final eligibility decision.
- Minimum education to sit
- 120 semester hours
- Degree rule
- bachelor's or qualifying graduate degree required to sit
- Passed-section credit window
- 30-month passed-section credit window
Education requirements to sit
- Degree: bachelor's or qualifying graduate degree required to sit
- Minimum education to sit: 120 semester hours
- Accounting coursework: Depends on the education pathway
- Business coursework: Depends on the education pathway
- Degree field: Accounting concentration or equivalent
- Accreditation: Degree and coursework must be from an accredited or Board-recognized institution.
Qualifying education pathways
- Graduate accounting route: At least 120 total semester hours and a graduate degree with an accounting concentration from a program accredited in accounting by a Board-recognized accreditor.
- Graduate business route: At least 120 total semester hours, a graduate degree from a business-accredited program, and either 24 undergraduate accounting hours, 15 graduate accounting hours, or an equivalent combination.
- Bachelor's-degree route: At least 120 total semester hours, a bachelor's or higher degree, 24 accounting hours, and 24 non-accounting business hours.
Required accounting subjects
- 6 semester hours in fundamental accounting
- 6 semester hours in intermediate financial accounting and reporting
- 3 semester hours in advanced financial accounting and reporting
- 3 semester hours in tax accounting
- 3 semester hours in auditing
Required business subjects
- 3 semester hours in business law
- 3 semester hours in economics
Other required coursework
- Ethics content integrated as required by the Rhode Island curriculum rules
Rhode Island's active Board regulation expressly permits an applicant with at least 120 semester hours to sit after satisfying one of the published education pathways. The listed subject subtotals apply to the graduate-business and bachelor's routes, not the separately accredited graduate-accounting route. Because the CPAES page currently omits the 120-hour provision, a candidate applying with 120-149 hours should ask CPAES to confirm eligibility in writing before paying.
Personal eligibility rules
- Citizenship: U.S. citizenship is not listed as an absolute requirement; review any lawful-presence rule
- U.S. residency: No U.S. residency requirement is listed
- Jurisdiction residency: No jurisdiction-residency requirement is listed
- Social Security number: An SSN is not required to apply
- Character review before sitting: A character requirement applies before sitting
How to apply
Apply through NASBA CPA Examination Services (CPAES) online through NASBA CPA Portal.
Documents commonly required for this application
- Official transcripts
- Completed CPA Portal application
- Foreign evaluation when applicable
Published exam fees
- Education evaluation application: $96.00 Charged once for a first-time candidate.
- Exam section application: $96.00 per section Charged for each exam section selected.
- CPA exam section fee: $268.59 per section Charged for each exam section selected.
Before you pay: These figures were verified on 2026-08-09, but fee schedules can change. Confirm the current official fee schedule.
Can you apply or sit before graduation?
- Apply before the degree is awarded: No; the education requirement must be completed first
- Sit before the degree is awarded: No; the education requirement must be completed first
Rhode Island requires the qualifying degree and education pathway to be complete and does not accept in-progress transcripts. A candidate using the active regulation's examination route does not need to reach 150 total hours before sitting.
Foreign education
- Foreign education accepted: Yes, with the jurisdiction's conditions
- Credential evaluation: A credential evaluation is required
- NIES: Not confirmed in the current official sources
- Certified translation: A certified translation is required when applicable
Published evaluation services
- NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES)
NTS and passed-section credit
- NTS issuer: NASBA
- NTS validity: 6 months
- Passed-section credit: 30-month passed-section credit window
- Continuous testing: Available subject to current AICPA scheduling windows
- Discipline sections follow AICPA testing windows.
Sitting for the exam is not the same as licensure
These examination rules answer whether you can apply and sit. A CPA license can require additional education, experience, ethics, and administrative steps.
- Experience: Experience is required
- Ethics exam: Required
- Alternative pathway: adopted and effective
Published licensure pathways
- Post-baccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration plus one year of qualifying experience. Effective 2026-06-23.
- Baccalaureate degree plus 30 additional semester hours with an accounting concentration plus one year of qualifying experience. Effective 2026-06-23.
- Baccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration plus two years or 3,640 hours of qualifying experience. Effective 2026-06-23.
Exam eligibility and licensure are separate. Effective June 23, 2026, Rhode Island publishes three licensure pathways, including a bachelor's-degree route paired with two years or 3,640 hours of qualifying experience; 150 hours are not a universal licensure requirement.
Official sources used
- Rhode Island CPA Exam — National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-09)
- Board of Accountancy — Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation (accessed 2026-08-09)
- Implementing Candidate Fee Changes — National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-09)
- Rules and Regulations of the Rhode Island Board of Accountancy — Rhode Island Department of State (accessed 2026-08-09)
Before you apply: Confirm the current application, fees, NTS terms, and testing availability with the Board. This guide only includes details we could verify from published sources, and the licensing section is a starting point—not a complete licensing checklist.
Your application plan
Turn this page into a checklist
Check off each research step as you complete it. This is a planning aid; finishing the checklist does not mean the Board has approved your eligibility.