Last week, in his first executive order, Pennsylvania’s new governor announced that 92 percent of state government jobs will no longer require a four-year college degree. Governor Josh Shapiro’s heartening move means that 65,000 state jobs no longer require a college degree, but that candidates will be free to compete for these positions based on skills, relevant experience, and merit. Shapiro’s move follows similar actions taken by Republicans, like former Maryland governor Larry Hogan, hinting at a burgeoning, bipartisan push to temper the role of college degrees in American life.
Today, too many Americans feel compelled to pursue a college degree, whether they want to or not. Why is that? Well, employers increasingly require that applicants for “good” jobs possess a degree, even when the degrees aren’t relevant to the job, and employers say they’re skeptical that college grads are even prepared for work.
College can be a good thing, but inconsistent judicial standard and comfortable employer routines ... [+]
In fact, that capricious over-credentialing is bad for both workers and for businesses. A comprehensive study by scholars at Harvard Business School found that college graduates filling middle-skill positions cost more to employ, have higher turnover rates, tend to be less engaged, and are no more productive than high-school graduates doing the same job.
Employers have increasingly used college degrees as a convenient way to screen job applicants, even when those credentials bear no obvious connection to job duties. The result has been steady “degree inflation,” as employers demand degrees for middle-skill jobs that previously didn’t require one. In fact, 61 percent of employers admitted to having rejected applicants with the requisite skills and experience simply because they lacked a college degree.
Much of this is an unintended consequence of federal anti-discrimination law. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited employers from discriminating against workers or job applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It did, however, allow the use of “professionally developed” ability or employment tests, insofar as they were not “designed, intended or used” to discriminate. In Griggs v. Duke Power Company (1971), the Supreme Court unanimously interpreted this language to mean that when a selection process disproportionately affects minority groups (e.g. has a “disparate impact”), employers must show that any requirements are directly job-related and an accurate predictor of job performance.
This “disparate impact” standard, which Congress codified into law in 1991, is supposed to apply to any selection procedure used for hiring (including educational requirements). For instance, if employers use aptitude tests to evaluate job applicants, they must use “professionally” approved tests and justify I.Q. thresholds or risk lawsuits.
While it’s been scrupulously applied to all manner of other, non-educational types of employment tests, however, the “disparate impact” standard hasn’t been applied to college degrees. They’ve gotten a free pass, despite the Supreme Court warning against just that in Griggs and even though this has baked racial and socioeconomic disparities into the candidate pool for professional jobs. Colleges, of course, reap outsize benefits from serving as the gateway to remunerative employment.
A degree should hold value because of the skills and knowledge it represents. When employers use degrees as a prerequisite for a position, that requirement should be treated with the same scrutiny accorded to other employment tests. In the case of nursing or electrical engineering, it’s not difficult to appreciate how the training reflected in a particular degree is vital for particular roles. But that’s very different from declaring “B.A. required,” period.
Under the status quo, the big losers are recent high school grads and the two-thirds of U.S. adults without a four-year degree. Requiring a college degree disqualifies many workers with relevant skills and experience out of rewarding work, bars young people from opportunities that will help them climb the professional ladder, and forces individuals to rack up college debt pursuing paper credentials they may not want or actually need.
Overthrowing the college degree as a one-size-fits-all fast pass to employment is good for everyone. It gives states access to a broader pool of candidates, including those with practical experience or those who couldn’t afford to go to college, while giving would-be students more freedom to decide whether to pursue a degree.
Gov. Shapiro explained his action last week, saying, "Every Pennsylvanian should have the freedom to chart their own course and have a real opportunity to succeed. They should get to decide what's best for them – whether they want to go to college or straight into the workforce – not have that decided for them."
That’s very well said. College can be a very good thing. That’s not at issue. But an inconsistent judicial standard and comfortable employer routines ought not oblige Americans to buy a very expensive piece of paper. Here’s hoping more governors will follow Governor Shapiro’s lead.
