Accountants Have to Go to College for Five Years. Some Are Rethinking That.

Accounting, a profession focused on numbers, is vexed by this one: the 150 college credit hours required to become a certified public accountant.

The shortage of accountants in the U.S. has firms boosting salaries and sending work abroad. The cost of accounting work has been rising and some firms are turning away audit work because they can’t find enough CPAs. Efforts to recruit more students into the field have become a near-constant conversation now nationwide among CPAs and industry groups.