New
Mexico Register / Volume XXXVII, Issue 1 / January 13, 2026
This is an amendment to 16.60.2 NMAC, Section
9, effective 1/13/2026
16.60.2.9 EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS:
A. [After ] Effective
January 1, 2026, Subsection C of Section 61-28B NMSA 1978, [Section 8C]
of the act requires an applicant for the uniform CPA examination to hold [a
baccalaureate degree or its equivalent conferred by a college or university
acceptable to the board, with 30 semester hours in accounting or the equivalent
as determined by the board.];
(1) a baccalaureate degree or its
equivalent conferred by a college or university acceptable to the board, plus
completion of an additional 30 semester hours of higher education in accounting
or business as determined by the board; or
(2) a baccalaureate from a college or
university acceptable to the board with a concentration in accounting or
business; or
(3) a master’s degree from a college or
university acceptable to the board with a concentration in accounting or
business.
B. [After ] Effective
January 1, 2026, Subsection D of Section 61-28B-8 NMSA 1978 of the act
requires an applicant for a certificate to have [at least 150 semester hours
of college education or its equivalent earned at a college or university
acceptable to the board. Any course for
which credit has been awarded by the institution will be accepted toward meeting
the 150-semester hour requirement.] ;
(1) a baccalaureate degree or
its equivalent from a college or university acceptable to the board plus completion
of an additional 30 semester hours of higher education in accounting or
business and evidence of at least one year of accounting experience; or
(2) a baccalaureate degree or
its equivalent from a college or university acceptable to the board with a
concentration in accounting or business and evidence of at least two years of
accounting experience; or
(3) a master’s degree from a
college or university acceptable to the board with a concentration in
accounting or business and evidence of at least one year of accounting
experience.
C. [The board will accept not fewer than 30 semester hours of
accounting or audit related courses (3 semester hours may be in business law),
without repeat, from]
The college or university conferring the degree or its equivalent must be
a board-recognized educational institution.
The recognized educational institution must have accepted [them for]
the required semester hours for a concentration in accounting or business
for purposes of obtaining a baccalaureate degree or equivalent, and they
must be shown on an official transcript.
D. A prospective
CPA examination or CPA certificate candidate is considered as graduating from [an
accredited college or university] board recognized educational
institution acceptable to the board if, at the time the educational
institution grants the applicant’s degree, it is accredited at the appropriate
level as outlined in these rules. As
used in these rules, “accreditation” refers to the process of quality control
of the education process. There are 3
different levels of accreditation referred to in these rules, and the degree to
which the board relies on accreditation differs according to the level at which
the degree granting institution is accredited.
In reviewing and evaluating a candidate’s educational credentials, the
board may rely on accreditation by an accrediting agency at 3 different levels.
E. Level 1 accreditation is associated with the
four-year, degree-granting college or university itself. The institution must be accredited by 1 or
more of the following board-recognized regional accrediting agencies (or
successor agencies):
(1) middle
states association of colleges and secondary schools;
(2) New
England association of schools and colleges;
(3) north
central association of colleges and secondary schools;
(4) northwest
association of schools and colleges;
(5) southern
association of colleges and schools;
(6) western
states association of schools and colleges; and
(7) accrediting
council for independent colleges and schools.
F. Level 2 accreditation is
associated with a business school or college of business. The unit must be accredited by a national
accreditation agency recognized by the board, such as the American assembly of
collegiate schools of business (AACSB), following a specific and comprehensive
review of its faculty, resources, and curricula. In evaluating a candidate’s credentials, the
board may choose to rely on this accreditation as evidence that the
institution’s business school has met minimum overall standards of quality for
such schools.
G. Level 3 accreditation is associated with an
accounting program or department. The
program or department must be accredited by a national accreditation agency
recognized by the board such as the AACSB.
Accounting programs or departments accredited in this manner have met
standards substantially higher and much more specific than those required for
level 1 or level 2 accreditation. For
level 3 accreditation, the accounting program or department must meet a
stringent set of standards that addresses faculty credentials, student quality,
physical facilities, and curricula.
Graduates who submit transcripts from accredited accounting programs may
be deemed to have met the board’s specific accounting and business course requirements.
H. If an educational institution was not accredited at the time an
applicant’s degree was received but is so accredited at the time the
application is filed with the board, the institution will be deemed to be
accredited for the purposes of this rule provided that it:
(1) certifies that the applicant’s total
educational program would qualify the applicant for graduation with a
baccalaureate degree during the time the institution has been accredited; and
(2) furnishes
the board satisfactory proof, including college catalogue course numbers and
descriptions, that the pre-accrediting courses used to qualify the applicant as
an accounting major are substantially equivalent to post-accrediting courses.
I. If an
applicant’s degree was received at an accredited educational institution as
defined in this rule, but the educational program which was used to qualify the
applicant as an accounting major included courses taken at non-accredited
institutions, either before or after graduation, such courses will be deemed to
have been taken at the accredited institution from which applicant’s degree was
received, provided the accredited institution either:
(1) has
accepted such courses by including them in its official transcript; or
(2) certifies
to the board that it will accept such courses for credit toward graduation.
J. A graduate
of a four-year, degree-granting institution not accredited at the time the
applicant’s degree was received or at the time the application was filed will
be deemed to be a graduate of a four-year accredited educational institution
if:
(1) either
the NASBA international evaluation service or a credentials evaluation service
that is a member of the national association of credential evaluation services
certifies that the applicant’s degree is equivalent to a degree from an
accredited educational institution defined in this rule; or if
(2) an
accredited educational institution as defined in this rule accepts the
applicant’s non-accredited baccalaureate degree for admission to a graduate
business degree program; the applicant satisfactorily completes at least 15
semester hours or the equivalent in post-baccalaureate education at the
accredited educational institution, of which at least nine semester hours, or
the equivalent, shall be in accounting; and the accredited educational
institution certifies that the applicant is in good standing for continuation
in the graduate program or has maintained a grade point average in these
courses that is necessary for graduation.
K. Advanced subjects completed to qualify under the above
section may not be used to satisfy education requirements.
L. The board may provide a mechanism to recognize
educational institutions that are not accredited at the institutional, business
school, accounting program, or department level.
M. The accounting education
concentration or equivalent contemplated by the act shall consist of semester
hours of credit earned as in a conventional college semester. Quarter hours will be converted by
multiplying the quarter hours earned by two-thirds to determine semester hours
earned. No more than 30 semester hours
will be recognized for internships or life experience.
[16.60.2.9 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.8, 2/14/2002; A,
6/15/2004; A, 6/30/2008; A, 1/17/2013; A, 1/13/2026]