No degree? No problem. Chicago expanding access to work
A new Chicago ordinance will remove college degree requirements for most city jobs. The measure breaks down employment barriers for disadvantaged groups and opens new pathways to prosperity.
“College degree required” will no longer be automatic on city job listings in Chicago, opening opportunities to those with relevant work experience, vocational training or military service.
On May 21, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance promoted by Ald. Gilbert Villegas eliminating four-year college degree requirements to apply for a range of municipal positions. Certain professional roles, such as lawyers or engineers, still require academic credentials, but the ordinance opens many administrative and technical jobs to a wider pool of talent.
By endorsing a shift toward skills-based hiring, city leaders recognized some simple but powerful truths: a college-degree isn’t the only path to career success and isn’t the only – or even the best – indicator of competency.
Chicago’s former degree requirement for many city jobs upheld the “paper ceiling,” a work barrier that excludes individuals with job-ready skills obtained through non-college pathways, such as apprenticeships or military service. The paper ceiling thins the workforce and reduces economic opportunity for many individuals.
According to Opportunity@Work, a workforce advocacy organization, nearly 922,000 Chicagoans have skills for city jobs but lack a formal degree. Degree barriers also disproportionately impact minority and veteran applicants, excluding 61% of Black workers, 54% of Hispanic workers and 64% of veteran workers from hiring eligibility.
Chicago’s ordinance will promote fairness and widen the city’s talent recruitment pipeline at a time when hiring remains a challenge across Illinois. The “college-for-all” model isn’t delivering on its promise as a workforce solution.
Fewer than half of all Illinois college students graduate. Just 30% of Chicago Public Schools 9th graders are expected to earn a college credential by age 25, according to a University of Chicago study of CPS students based on 2022 educational attainment rates.
The outcomes are bleaker for poor and minority students. Only 21% of low-income, first generation students finish a bachelor’s degree within six years compared to 66% of their wealthier peers.
Even when students do graduate college, many still feel unprepared for work. Half of recent college graduates reported feeling unqualified, according to a 2021 survey. And 40% of employers agreed.
As the cost of higher education continues to soar – Illinois’ in-state tuition ranks the sixth-highest in the nation at almost $15,000 per year – and student debt reaches unsustainable levels, insisting on a bachelor’s degree for all municipal roles in Chicago unfairly burdens and restricts job seekers.
Villegas’ ordinance will put Chicago among the list of 26 states and several cities, including New York, Philadelphia and Minneapolis, that have also adopted skills-based hiring policies.
By recognizing the value of experience and not just a college degree, Chicago will unlock opportunity and access to prosperity for more residents and a healthier pool of job applicants for itself.