Government opens jobs to workers without college degrees

What it does

This bill stops government job postings from requiring a four-year college degree. Workers can use skills from apprenticeships, bootcamps, military service, community college, or on-the-job training. The Office of Personnel Management must review how agencies set degree rules. It must let other qualifications count. The bill asks the government to study paying for training and tuition.

Who it affects

Workers without four-year degrees gain access to government jobs closed to them before. Agencies must change how they hire.

One thing to notice

The bill requires any degree rule to match actual job skills. Agencies can still decide what skills a job needs. They could block workers by calling a degree a required skill.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

11 cosponsors: 6 Democrats, 5 Republicans.

• Jul 6, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jul 6, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Words to know

• apprenticeships — Jobs where people learn a trade while working and getting paid
• bootcamps — Short, intense training programs that teach specific job skills
• Office of Personnel Management — The agency that sets rules for hiring government workers