Is a CPA designation equivalent to a graduate professional degree?

[Anonymous]

i.e. Like a law degree or MBA for example?

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

Lol no. Nice try.

[Anonymous]

No. If you are applying to an accounting specific position from staff accountant up to CFO, it is valued more than a law degree or an MBA. Any other job it is completely irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

What? A CPA isn't a degree. It's more like passing the bar.

You might have a master's in accounting...that's a degree. But even those are only 1 year programs now.

[Anonymous]

Not an equivalent. It's a professional certification.

[Anonymous]

No. My brother is a CPA and JD. He studied for and passed the CPA exam when he had a bachelor's. Five years later he went to law school, then took the bar. Two totally different things.

[Anonymous]

It depends. Check the job descriptions for positions that interest you. Most financial positions say "CPA or MBA preferred".

[Anonymous]

I’m a CFA charterholder and consider it as what it is - a professional certification. It’s obviously not the same thing as a CPA but similar as far as credentials go.

[Anonymous]

No, but most states require 150 hrs of coursework to be a CPA. If you do your courses right, you'll have a CPA plus a Master's.

[Anonymous]

No it's a test you take.

-a CPA

[Anonymous]

Not even close. If that’s the case, then passing the bar for law or boards for medicine would be another degree in addition to JD or MD.

[Anonymous]

WTF? No. It's a test you passed and a certification you have (right there in the name "certified") It is not indicative of your level of schooling. You can be a CPA and have an MBA, in which case you have a graduate degree. But no, just having a CPA doesn't magically mean you have additional education.

[Anonymous]

No and I have both. A graduate professional degree means taking a standardized exam to get in, then a program with coursework that includes things like group projects. Taking the CPA is a review course and testmanship.