Any person making initial application to take the examination described in section 1-114 shall be eligible to take the examination if he or she has completed at least one hundred fifty semester hours or two hundred twenty-five quarter hours of postsecondary academic credit and has earned a baccalaureate or higher degree from a college or university accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or a similar agency as determined to be acceptable by the board. The person shall demonstrate that accounting, auditing, business, and other subjects at the appropriate academic level as required by the board are included within the required hours of postsecondary academic credit. A person who expects to complete the postsecondary academic credit and earn the degree as required by this section may take test sections of the examination within one hundred twenty days prior to completing the postsecondary academic credit and earning the degree, but such person shall not receive any credit for such test sections unless evidence satisfactory to the board showing that such person has completed the postsecondary academic credit and earned the degree as required by this section is received by the board within one hundred fifty days following when the first test section of the examination is taken. The board shall not prescribe the specific curricula of colleges or universities. If the applicant is an individual, the application shall include the applicant's social security number.