So are you a graduate student? Although the rules vary for the CPA from state to state, most of the states are moving towards the 150 hrs and 27 hrs in accounting meaning you will have to have 150 credit hours completed and 27 of those hours should be accounting hours. Some states however allow you to sit for exam as soon as you finish your undergraduate with 27 accounting hours provided that you are persuing your 150. You don't have to join any institution to study for the CPA exam. Most of it is self study. There are also some support material that are available like Glime and becker. Glime is comparatively much cheaper and I think can be bought for ~$500 but becker is much more expensive and can cost more than $2000 but is more well accepted. This is all I can think of right now.. Let me know if you have some other specific questions..