Auditor Rob Sand calls for lowering degree requirements for some state jobs

Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand held a news conference in his office at the Iowa State Capitol April 30, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Auditor Rob Sand called for Iowa to remove four-year degree requirements from certain state jobs as a way to address workforce shortages.

Sand released a report with Opportunity@Work, a nonprofit group focused on increasing skilled labor opportunities for people without traditional higher education. The report recommended removing four-year degree requirements or recommendations from 28 state positions, including information technology administrators and specialists, administrative assistants and disability examiners. People with relevant two-year degrees, certifications, military service or prior job experience could fill these roles, the report found.

In a news conference Tuesday, Sand said the change could help fill open roles, in addition to giving Iowans job opportunities without the cost and time commitments of a bachelor’s degree.

“We think that once these jobs are opened up, and more people feel welcome to apply, we’re going to get a broader cross-section of Iowans applying for this work, including a lot of people who are value-focused, (practicality)-focused, who have made those career decisions for those reasons,” Sand said. “And I think that’s a good kind of mindset to have working for the taxpayers of the state of Iowa.”

Job listings and hiring processes are typically conducted through the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS). Sand said he has sent the report to the department for further consideration.

Gov. Kim Reynolds directed the department in 2022 to review the state’s 807 job classifications within state government and to allow for “alternative alternative requirements for employment whenever possible,” Kollin Crompton, spokesman for the governor’s office, said. 

“Today, only 10.2 percent of state job classifications require a bachelor’s degree,” Crompton said in a statement. “We continue to look for opportunities to update job requirements, making state government employment as accessible as possible to Iowans.”

The governor has also pursued other avenues for expanding alternative career pathways in Iowa, he said, including the Registered Apprenticeship Programs for teachers, paraeducators, health care careers and other skilled trade positions.

Christopher Sikich, Communications Manager for DAS, said Sand’s office did not contact or consult DAS about degree requirements for state jobs, and that the information within the report is “misconstrued.”

“The Department of Administrative Services had been directed by Governor Reynolds two years ago to ensure no artificial barriers, related to education were in place with the majority of our job classifications,” Sikich said in a news release. “Each classification has gone through review and The Department of Administrative Services will continue to ensure multiple pathways exist for applicants to qualify where feasible for employment with the State of Iowa.”

Other states have also moved to change degree requirements for state jobs. Maryland, under former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, waived four-year degree requirements from many state positions in 2022 in an effort to recruit workers following shortages left after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sand said the auditor’s office revised its own hiring requirements in 2022 to accept people with associate degrees in accounting to fill needed positions.

In the past two years, 10% of the office’s hires has been people with two-year degrees, he said, but he expects to see a more people with associate’s degrees or alternative education filling these positions in the future. The auditor’s office is working with Iowa community colleges on recruitment efforts, Sand said.

Building out the “pipeline” for recruitment and wider opportunities with people outside of traditional university education systems is one way of addressing problems with workforce shortages in Iowa, he said. A February Iowa Business Council report concluded that with a 2.9% 12-month unemployment average and 68.1% labor force participation rate, population growth and retention are pressing factors that needed to address the state’s need for workers in both the private and public sectors.

“It’s hard for us to grow as a state or even to sustain our population if you don’t have more working-age people in the state,” Sand said. “… So what we’re doing today is talking about finding one, a particular way to make sure that we can match our workforce with the jobs that are available.”

This story has been updated with comments from the governor’s office and the Department of Administrative Services.

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