We (and all other accountancy firms) outsource the academic aspects of accountancy training but keep the practical training in-house and on-the-job. Non-graduates we take on do AAT training (accounting technician) which is seen as more than degree-equivalent anyway. Once they're AAT-qualifed, they move on to ACA (chartered accountancy).

I quite like the idea of company training = degree, but the problem for most industries would be "Hang on, if we train people up, and then award them a marketable qualification, won't they just bugger off and go and work for the competition?" For accountancy firms, lots of people leave when they qualify, but the accountancy firms' pyramid-shaped hierarchies are built to accommodate this (and alumni often end up as customers).