Hi Everyone,

I have passed the CPA exam as a CO candidate. I'm exploring the possibility of applying for the licensure through education in lieu of experience.

I did my high school in Muscat, Oman and gave GCE A level exams in place of Indian Standard 12 Board Exams.

I obtained my college (we called it University) education in University Of Auckland, New Zealand. I have the following degrees:

1) Bachelors Of Commerce – Accounting

2) Bachelors Of Science – Computer Science and Information Systems

3) Graduate Diploma in Commerce – Finance

1) and 2) took four years to complete (it was actually a con-joint degree – if I did them separately, it would have taken 3 years each – 6 years in total) and 3) took one year to complete.

I don’t have a Masters degree at this point.

I wanted to check whether I could apply for the Co licensure under education in lieu of experience with the degrees I already have.

According to Board rules, the basic requirement for education in lieu of experience is a Bachelors degree + 30 additional semester hours.

I realize the structure of college education is totally different in the US from NZ that is UK based.

In NZ, each year is divided into three semesters (2 three month semesters and 1 one month semester) – Semester 1 (March to July), Semester 2 (August to November) and Summer School (January to February) (please note NZ is in the Southern Hemisphere, so summer is during Xmas time). There are projects and assignments throughout the semesters and final exam at the end of the semester. We take about four courses each (each course = 2 points) in the 1^st and 2nd semester and one or two courses in summer school. In other words, about 8-9 courses every each year = 16-18 points every year.  At the end of the day, we must have passed courses at least equivalent to 64 points in order to graduate.  

In the US, the successful completion of courses is measured by semester hours or credits that I am not familiar with.  

Can anyone please let me know from the info above (possibly who have studied in an UK based system like Australia, NZ or the UK), how many semester hours or credits in the US system would be equivalent to one course in the NZ system?

I am planning to get my education evaluated by FACS, however I want to do some homework before I pay the $100 and want to make sure that I am not “light” on the requirements.

Thanks,

Arun