Nobody has to tear the old gate down. Build a second way in beside it, based on proof of skill, and let people walk through.
In plain words
A candidate picks a field, is told the topics ahead of time, learns them however suits them, and then shows a working professional what they can do, on the record. If they pass, any employer can look it up. Taking the degree off a job posting isn't enough, because the employer is left with nothing to replace it. The second door has to be something an employer can see through.
Evidence and sources
- Fewer than one hire in seven hundred went to someone who got in because a degree requirement was dropped; about 45 percent of companies changed their postings and nothing else. Burning Glass Institute and Harvard Business School, Skills-Based Hiring (2024).
- By early 2025, 27 states had taken steps to drop degree requirements for public jobs. National Governors Association (2025).
- More than 27 million "hidden workers" in the United States are filtered out by hiring systems. Harvard Business School and Accenture, Hidden Workers (2021).
Questions this answers
- What could replace the college degree?
- Why didn't dropping degree requirements change hiring?
- How do skilled people without degrees get hired?
In the book
In Four Weeks, Not Four Years: Chapters 8, 9, 11.
Related ideas
Cite this idea. Trenton Rich, "The second door," in
Four Weeks, Not Four Years (2026), maxwellrich.com/idea-the-second-door.html. Free to quote, copy and reuse with credit under
CC BY 4.0. The book itself is under normal copyright.