If there's a will, there's a way

Michigan native Lauren King came to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) on a volleyball scholarship. Digging her way through her first year, Lauren’s major changed multiple times. She started with homeland security and emergency preparedness, and after passing a few obstacles, she found herself in an accounting class with VSCPA member Wayne Edmunds, CPA.

After hearing Wayne’s teaching style and how he talked about the profession, Lauren declared herself an accounting major but wasn’t medically allowed to play volleyball due to injury. It was a blessing in disguise, Lauren said: It allowed her to focus on school and what she genuinely wanted to do.

It turns out, that’s becoming a CPA.

First things first: Lauren and her accounting friends discussed how they were going to fulfill the 150-hour educational requirement to become a CPA. A master’s degree, a dual degree, a postbaccalaureate degree?

Lauren’s friend Hector asked if she had heard about the CLEP Exams. She hadn’t. But now, she makes sure that everyone else does.

CLEP exams are College Level Examination Programs (CLEP). Hosted by the College Board, these 34 exams allow students to learn and earn credit for introductory level college material for a fraction of the cost. Exam topics range from financial accounting to American literature to the Spanish language. Each exam has a flat fee of $90, but the fee could be waived with circumstances like military benefits. Lauren used Modern States, a nonprofit organization that aims to make a college-level education accessible for everyone.

Students learn exam content in chapters, watch recordings, review the material throughout each module, and take a larger practice test before the big exam.

In the summer of 2022, Lauren asked Hector how many exams he thought that she could reasonably complete with two summer classes and an internship. His answer? Two or three. Her result? Six or seven.

Lauren took multiple exams to gain credit, some in accounting and math, others in her separate interest of psychology.
In Lauren’s experience, she feels like no one knows about the option of taking a CLEP exam — not even professors or professional CPAs. In fact, Lauren believes if this option were advertised more, the CPA pipeline could be improved.

“No one knows about [the CLEP option] because it’s not advertised so readily, but if it was, it could attract more people to the profession,” she said. “It [150 hours] presents another barrier to entry, especially the students who don’t have the means to pay for credits like that. It might encourage people to enter the profession and potentially take the exams for free.”

Lauren wants to inform current and aspiring CPAs to not give up when facing obstacles. And she takes that concept with her through during journey to become a CPA.

“If you really want something, there’s a way to make it happen. If you see an obstacle, don’t let it deter you.”

Lauren graduated from VCU this year and she will start in October as an audit associate at KPMG in Richmond.