Study at CPA Atlantic School
Overview
Becoming a CPA begins with the 14 prerequisites that are required for entry to the CPA Professional Education Program (CPA PEP). Depending on your university path, you may have already completed most or all of these, for example if you were an accounting graduate. Most other business majors typically have about half of these prerequisites. Graduates in other disciplines likely still need the vast majority of these courses.
As many CPA preparatory courses comprise of one or more university-level equivalent courses, this may be a more affordable path than taking the missing courses through a post-secondary institution.
Currently, CPA preparatory courses are only offered in English through the CPA Atlantic School of Business. Students are welcome to complete the recognized courses externally at French institutions. Please visit our French prerequisite page for more information.
Do I need to take these courses?
To estimate the number of prerequisite courses you need, consult the CPA Atlantic School’s Transfer Credit Guide, which lists course equivalencies for a significant number of recognized Canadian universities, colleges and programs (and including Bermuda College).
To receive an exemption for a ‘non-core’ course requires:
- a minimum grade of 50% for each course.
To receive an exemption for a ‘core’ course requires:
- a minimum grade of 60% for each course
- an overall average of 65% (across these core courses)
- that these courses were completed no more than ten years prior to your official CPA eligibility assessment.
General Eligibility for CPA Preparatory Courses
Eligibility for CPA preparatory courses is the completion of 30 credit hours (i.e. normally equivalent to one year of full-time studies) at a recognized post-secondary institution. Alternatively, you may be eligible to enroll as a Mature Student with three years of relevant work experience if you do not meet the credit hour requirement. Note that CPA preparatory courses do have internal sequencing requirements.