Gov. Spencer Cox announces his Skill First Initiative for state employment opportunities on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has announced a revolutionary change to state hiring practices.
“Degrees have become a blanketed barrier-to-entry in too many jobs,” the governor explained on a ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 13. “Instead of focusing on demonstrated competence, the focus too often has been on a piece of paper.
“We are changing that.”
Cox has directed state agencies to eliminate requirements for bachelor’s degrees in some of their employee recruitment efforts.
The governor said that eliminating bachelor’s degree requirements will broaden access to highly qualified talent. He also emphasized that it would expand employment opportunities to diverse candidates, including those from under-represented groups.
The state’s executive branch has more than 1,000 different classified jobs, according to state officials and about 98 percent of them will no longer list a degree as a minimum requirement.
The state hiring managers and screening committees will instead consider comparable experience as equal to educational qualifications at every step in the evaluation and recruitment process.
In making that announcement, Cox was joined by Joanne Smith, executive vice president of Delta Airlines; Commissioner David Woolstenhulme of the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE); and Brandy Grace, chief executive office of the Utah Association of Counties.
Those officials showed their support of Cox’s initiative and joined him in urging that local governments and the private sector follow suit.
In his remarks, Cox promised that the hiring initiative would lead to more jobs for candidates in rural areas of Utah; more opportunities for those returning to work after an extended absence through the state’s Returnship program; and more opportunities for apprenticeships and other on-the-job training opportunities facilitated by the Department of Workforce Services.
While the governor reaffirmed his support for those who choose a degree-seeking route and his commitment to Utah’s world-class colleges and universities, he also emphasized that a degree should not be the only way to get a good paying job or to have a fulfilling career.
USHE oversees institutions of higher education in Utah, including eight colleges/universities and eight technical colleges.
According to the most recent Census, about 24 percent of Utah’s population had a bachelor’s degree in 2020, while another 11 percent had received graduate or professional degrees.
Cox is fast becoming less popular with the higher education community in Utah, however.
An outspoken critic of President Joe Biden’s efforts to forgive student loans, Cox believes the solution to student indebtedness is to reduce costs of a college education.
To do that, the governor wants a tuition freeze at all USHE institutions.
While unveiling his FY 2023 budget recommendations in early December, Cox noted that tuition increases and fees at Utah colleges and universities are outpacing inflation and median household incomes.
Legislative appropriations typically cover 75% of the compensation increases extended to employees at state colleges and universities, leaving the system of higher education to fund the remaining 25%, primarily through tuition increases.
Cox has proposed instead that the Utah Legislature should fund 87.5% of those costs, leaving the institutions to cover the remaining 12 percent through cost-cutting measures.
Cox has told Salt Lake media representatives that there is “growing agreement” among the members of the Utah Board of Higher Education that they must hold the line on tuition hikes.