The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), together with eight other professional accounting organizations representing approximately 1.5 million accounting and finance professionals, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education expressing strong opposition to any draft regulation which would exclude accounting programs from a professional degree designation and urging that accounting programs be included as a professional degree in the proposed rule.
The Department of Education’s recent proposed regulation would exclude accounting programs across the country from a professional degree designation for the purposes of graduate student loan eligibility, which will do great harm to the profession.
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“Accounting is a profession. It is state‑licensed, built on rigorous education beyond a standard bachelor’s degree, validated by the Uniform CPA Examination and governed by ethics and competency standards. Students pursuing this pathway should have equitable access to graduate‑level financing, consistent with other recognized professional programs that serve critical public needs,” the group states in the letter.
While the group appreciates the Department’s broader effort to align lending with workforce needs, it also asks that a parity approach be employed to sustain the pipeline of future accountants and protect communities and markets.
The coalition is comprised of the following organizations:
- AGA – formerly the Association of Government Accountants
- American Institute of CPAs (AICPA)
- American Accounting Association (AAA)
- Center for Audit Quality (CAQ)
- Financial Executives International (FEI)
- Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA)
- NABA, Inc.
- National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA)
- National Council of Philippine American Canadian Accountants (NCPACA)
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