Utah Governor Eases Degree Requirements for State Jobs

Utah governor Spencer Cox announced that the state is moving to eliminate requirements for bachelor’s degrees for state jobs.

Instead, state hiring managers will emphasize experiences and competencies over degrees, according to a statement from the governor’s office released earlier this week. Utah’s executive branch “has 1,080 different classified jobs,” according to the statement. Of those jobs, an estimated 98 percent, or 1,058, do not require a degree, the Republican governor announced.

“Degrees have become a blanketed barrier-to-entry in too many jobs,” Cox said. “Instead of focusing on demonstrated competence, the focus too often has been on a piece of paper. We are changing that.”

Cox told reporters at a Tuesday press conference that the Department of Workforce Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, and staffing vacancies for various IT positions would benefit the most from dropping degree requirements, according to local CBS affiliate KUTV.

Maryland made a similar move to ease degree requirements for state jobs earlier this year.