A New York congressman wants federal contractors to reevaluate and potentially revise degree requirements for their job offerings. 

Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Bronx Democrat, is introducing a new bill, shared first with Spectrum News NY1, that would mandate contractors review all job classifications to identify which roles require a bachelor’s degree or higher, determining “whether such educational requirements are demonstrably necessary for the performance of essential job functions.”

The bill requires those contractors then to submit a plan to revise the criteria, offering alternative requirements like work experience and skills assessments. 

Torres is proposing the legislation at a time of growing awareness by policymakers that government should do more to help people who do not have four-year degrees to succeed, in part by stressing skills-based hiring.

In a statement, Torres said, “Unnecessary college degree requirements have long acted as artificial barriers to opportunity, excluding countless talented Americans from good-paying jobs they are perfectly qualified to do.”

“By requiring federal contractors to rigorously justify degree requirements, we hope to foster a more inclusive, abundant labor market that values merit and potential over pedigree and elitism,” he added.

A recent analysis by Brookings pegged the number of full-time equivalent federal contract workers in 2023 around 5.2 million.

It is unclear if the bill, currently in its earliest stages, will gain any traction on Capitol Hill.