A new article in The Wall Street Journal highlights how Governor Hogan is leading on expanding opportunity for workers without a college degree. According to the piece, “Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan in March said the government would review college-degree requirements for every state job. State and local governments have struggled to hire workers in the tight labor market…Half a year later, Maryland said the program is showing early signs of working as intended. The number of state employees hired without a four-year degree from May to August is up 41% from a year before while the number of all employees hired is up 14%.” With a tight labor market, private sector employers are also following Governor Hogan’s lead and reducing these credentialist requirements.
Earlier this year, An America United released a four-point education proposal building on what Governor Hogan has already done in Maryland to expand educational opportunities outside of college. As Governor Hogan wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, “It’s time to debunk the fiction that a prestigious degree is the only key to the American dream…A good education is the foundation to a successful career and a healthy civic society. But a good education doesn’t necessarily require a four-year degree, especially when such excessive credentialism falls on the taxpayer’s dime.”
Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.