Kamala Harris is embracing the degree-free wave — and thousands of workers could benefit

• Vice President Kamala Harris proposed eliminating college-degree requirement for 500,000 federal jobs.
• She also announced plans to double apprenticeship programs should she win the election.
• This would help Americans who question the value of a college degree and don't want student debt.

Vice President Kamala Harris wants to make it easier to get a job without a college degree if she wins the election.

During a campaign speech in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Harris outlined a new element of her economic policy platform: eliminating college-degree requirements for thousands of federal workers and bolstering apprenticeship programs to provide Americans with more options should they choose not to pursue a traditional college path.

"We will double the number of registered apprenticeships by the end of my first term," Harris said. "Eliminate degree requirements while increasing skills development for half a million federal jobs. And challenge our private sector to make a similar commitment to emphasizing skills, not just degrees."

The proposal is part of her campaign's platform to make high-paying jobs accessible to more Americans by supporting registered apprenticeships, joint labor-management programs, innovative partnerships between school districts and industries, and career and technical education programs.

This comes as a growing number of Americans are questioning the value of a college degree. While Harris and President Joe Biden have worked to cancel billions of dollars in student debt for millions of federal borrowers, the cost of college remains high and many are still struggling with high debt loads. As a result, many younger Americans are choosing to skip college in favor of career paths that don't require degrees.

The federal government is one of the largest employers in the US — over 2 million federal employees were in the workforce in 2023, up by more than 7% since 2019. Harris' proposal would likely draw in more federal-government workers who could not afford college or decided not to attend.

Eliminating degree requirements is a rare issue that Harris and Trump can agree on — in 2020, Trump signed an executive order requiring some federal employers to make it easier for those without degrees to secure jobs.

It's also an issue that's been picking up steam at the local and state levels. In 2022, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced the state would be opening up thousands of jobs to workers without degrees, and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox dropped college-degree requirements for 98% of the state's jobs that same year.

For many Americans, college remains the primary route to financial mobility. Harris' campaign says in its newly released policy book that "for those who do seek college degrees, Vice President Harris will provide a pathway to the middle class through high-quality, affordable education." It says she'll continue the work the administration has done to cancel student debt and make college more affordable by increasing the Pell Grants and strengthening public education.

Harris has not yet outlined specific details on any student-debt relief initiatives should she win the election. She supports the Biden administration's efforts to implement the SAVE income-driven repayment plan and Biden's second try at broader student-loan forgiveness under the Higher Education Act.

However, both of those plans are facing legal challenges, leaving borrowers hoping for relief in limbo.

As Business Insider has previously reported, student debt is a key reason Americans — particularly Gen Zers — are choosing to forego a college degree. LeLaina Wakeham, 25, told BI that she didn't think she needed a college degree to be successful, despite most of her peers choosing to go that route after high school, and she now financially supports herself in a real-estate job.

"I was taught that the only way supposedly I'll be able to learn is if I go to college and get a business degree to teach me what I can teach myself," she said. "That's crazy."