Historically, district leaders have been tasked with ensuring high school graduates are prepared for life after high school. Students were told, “You’ve got two options: college or the military.” Otherwise, students were left working wage-based jobs and relying on job skills gained only through real-life work experience. In 2024, however, the latter options are highly sought after among employers.
That’s according to new research released this week from the job listings website Indeed, which revealed that more than half (52%) of U.S. job postings on their platform did not mention any formal education requirement as of January. It’s a slight increase compared to 2019’s figures.
In fact, in the last five years the share of job postings that require at least a college degree fell from 20.4% to 17.8%. Across nearly every job sector, the researchers note that educational requirements are on the decline.
“Employers are loosening their formal educational requirements as the labor market remains tight and attitudes toward skill-first hiring practices change,” the report reads. “Those same employers seem more willing to consider candidates who can demonstrate the required skills without necessarily having a degree.”
According to the data, the top 10 most common jobs that require at least a bachelor’s degree include:
- Industrial engineering
- Mathematics
- Civil engineering
- Electrical engineering
- Project management
- Information design and documentation
- Software development
- Scientific research and development
- Human resources
- Accounting
“There are many possible reasons why educational requirements are fading from job postings,” the authors wrote. “Determining which skills a job seeker has and how proficient they are at them has historically been difficult and expensive.”
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Employers have traditionally leveraged one’s achievement of a college degree as the gold standard for judging one’s ability to execute a particular task. Now, developments in software-as-a-service technologies and methods of pre-employment testing allow employers to rely on the former practice less.
How are schools adapting?
As students’ postsecondary aspirations continue to drift away from the traditional route to higher education, K12 leaders are meeting students’ needs by providing opportunities for skill development and job certification before graduation.
Florida, for instance, recently announced its first-ever statewide high school cybersecurity competition, a field that is in increasing need of skilled workers. CyberLaunch seeks to introduce students to the profession through competition. Here’s how it works:
- A school faculty member signs up for the competition.
- Last fall, Cyber Florida’s Operation K12 program provided that school with free resources to help educators and students learn and prepare.
- This winter, Cyber Florida hosted several rounds of regional activities to introduce students to the competition and its platform.
- In March, the state championship will be held in Orlando. The event is a one-day conference for students and their faculty advisors, including exhibitors and speakers.
Other states like Oregon are expanding career and technical education opportunities for students. This year, the state received more than $17 million to fund these programs, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Now, there are more than 1,000 programs available to students throughout the state.
The Utica Community Schools District in Michigan recently celebrated with CBS News regarding its success in preparing students for the workforce.
“It’s skills that they’re going to use,” Jeff Kment, an automotive technologies teacher at Eisenhower High School, told CBS News. “We get a number of students who want to be auto mechanics. We get a number of students who like care. We get a number of students who have different goals and aspirations and want something different in their schedule.
“The programs are always full,” he added. “We never have a shortage of students.”
