This was inevitable, and I can’t believe it took this long to happen, but it’s finally happening.
Large US companies like Google, Walmart, IBM, Bank of America, and even Apple are dropping college requirements.
Studies have found that college tuition continues to skyrocket and for many, a four-year degree is becoming increasingly out of reach. But, many U.S. companies – including Google, Walmart, IBM, Bank of America, and Accenture – have announced new plans to reduce the number of jobs that require a college degree.
At Walmart, the company removed “unnecessary barriers” by cutting hundreds of corporate roles that no longer require a college degree. They also waived the requirement if a candidate could demonstrate they developed the necessary skills through previous experience or another kind of learning. Meanwhile, Google has been scrapping the degree requirement for certain positions for years. About 93% of Google’s job postings included a degree requirement in 2017, but by 2021 that number had dropped to 77%.
Apple has seen an 18% drop in its job postings that include a degree requirement; in 2017, 88% required a bachelor’s degree, but that dropped to 72% in 2021. IBM announced in 2021 that it was stripping bachelor’s degree requirements for more than half of its U.S. job openings, while Bank of America said last year that it dropped college-degree requirements for most of its entry-level jobs.
Accenture, an information technology services and consulting company, now has 80% of its 1,200 employees who don’t have four-year degrees. Instead, the company has an apprenticeship program that helps grim the necessary skills. Additionally, the Burning Glass Institute report found that 46% of “middle-skill occupations” and 31% of “high-skill occupations” saw their college degree requirements drop.
Yes, it’s time to bring back apprenticeship programs. Think about it…when you go to college, you have to do an internship, and most of those you have to do without pay (or very little). So a student pays out the nose for college, must work for free, and some how pay their bills. However, an apprenticeship program brings the employees into the fold, trains them, and they can make a living.
While college degrees are beneficial – we want doctors going to med school – they’ve become unaffordable and produce a terrible product. Arguably the reason is that many of the professors never left the University and have little practical experience.
Replacing college degrees with a demonstration of skills is invaluable, especially for those looking to open their own businesses. Even without a degree, you can learn the craft of coding, marketing, design, and more, and with the right resources, you’ll have the necessary skills to make a successful career for yourself.
Plus, think about raising your kids with a great work ethic, and then parents go into debt so they can be indoctrinated.
What’s also great is that this is going to take the power away from Big Academia because where you graduated from no longer matters.
