District of Columbia CPA Exam eligibility and application requirements

Check District of Columbia exam eligibility first

This is an exam-sitting guide. It checks whether your education and submission package fit the current DC exam application rules, then shows the two-stage NASBA process. It intentionally stops before experience, ethics, the higher education total that may apply to certification, license issuance, and later renewal. Meeting the exam threshold is not the same as meeting every requirement to become licensed.

Match your education to the exam threshold

For a first-time DC exam application, NASBA lists a baccalaureate degree with at least 120 semester hours from an accredited U.S. educational institution. Inside that record, the applicant needs 24 semester hours in accounting. The listed accounting coverage includes at least three semester hours each in financial accounting, auditing, cost or managerial accounting, and U.S. federal income tax. NASBA also lists three semester hours in commercial or business law.

Read the course labels and substance together. NASBA says the tax course must cover U.S. federal tax, the auditing course must cover internal or external auditing, and the law course must cover U.S. commercial and business law. CPA review credit and credit by examination do not satisfy the listed accounting or law requirements. This page does not evaluate a transcript or promise that a course will be accepted; CPAES makes that eligibility determination from the submitted academic record.

Resolve residency, identity, and international education

DC currently states that there is no residency requirement for its CPA Exam application. A candidate does not need to live in the District merely to apply under this jurisdiction. That flexibility does not answer where the candidate ultimately wants to practice or become licensed, so the exam-jurisdiction choice should still be deliberate.

DC also currently states that an SSN is not required to apply for the CPA Exam. Keep that narrow wording: it describes the exam application shown on the NASBA page. It does not establish the identity, tax, or licensing requirements that another agency may apply later.

Education completed outside the United States must be evaluated through NASBA International Evaluation Services under the current DC instructions. The evaluation needs degree equivalency, credential analysis, a course-by-course listing, and credit analysis. The completed evaluation and the international transcripts must reach CPAES through the required channels; a photocopy submitted by the candidate is not a substitute.

Collect every application material before submitting

Use a submission checklist before treating the DC application as complete. NASBA lists the DC Photo Form with a two-by-two photo, a copy of government-issued identification, an official transcript from every school on the application, an international evaluation when applicable, and a testing-accommodations form when applicable. The transcript must come directly from the institution, and the earned degree must be posted on it.

Document delivery is part of eligibility, not a later cleanup step. NASBA says photocopied transcripts are not official. When international education is involved, the evaluation service must send the completed evaluation and include the international transcript. A file can remain incomplete even after the online form is submitted if the supporting records have not arrived, so confirm delivery rather than counting only the portal submission date.

Use the two-stage CPA Portal application sequence

The DC application starts in NASBA systems. Create and verify the Okta account, enter the CPA Portal, select New Candidate, and complete portal enrollment. A new candidate then submits the Eligibility Evaluation Application. The eligibility stage is where CPAES evaluates the education record and supporting materials against DC exam requirements.

Do not skip from account creation to scheduling. NASBA states that a candidate applies for an exam section only after being found eligible. The Exam Section Application is separate from the initial education evaluation, and only one exam section may be selected on each section application. More than one section application may be submitted, but there can be only one NTS for a given section.

Choose the section application based on readiness, not simply because eligibility arrived. NASBA advises candidates to apply only for a section they are ready to take within the next six months. The NTS remains valid for a limited period, and the fees attached to an unused section can be lost. Eligibility answers whether you may proceed; current practice evidence helps answer whether this is the right time to proceed.

Read current exam fees and timing together

As reviewed on August 15, 2026, the DC NASBA page lists a $96 education evaluation application fee. After eligibility, it separately lists a $268.59 exam section fee and a $96 exam application fee for a section application. Treat those as current source values, not permanent prices, and reopen the official page immediately before paying.

NASBA says to allow two to four weeks from the file-completion date for processing. File completion means the application, fees, and all required supporting materials have been received. Mailing a transcript or submitting the online form does not by itself start the useful timing estimate if another required item is still missing.

These amounts and timing notes belong only to the DC exam application. They do not estimate education costs, international evaluation charges, travel, rescheduling, retakes, certification, or license fees. The official NASBA page remains the payment authority, while this guide helps the candidate keep eligibility, documents, timing, and current practice readiness in the right sequence.