Sponsors (11)
The bill expands federal hiring and training opportunities for people without four‑year degrees and increases hiring transparency, but it also creates new administrative burdens, possible coverage gaps for some workers, and risks to role-specific qualification standards unless implemented with additional resources and careful safeguards.
Job seekers without four-year degrees (including those with apprenticeships, community college, military training, bootcamps, or work experience) will gain expanded access to federal jobs through a STAR hiring path and alternative-qualification rules.
Applicants and hiring officials will face fewer unnecessary credential barriers because agencies must justify degree requirements and hiring practices will be subject to greater transparency and audit review.
People who gained skills outside a bachelor’s degree track are explicitly recognized as 'STAR', enabling targeted hiring and program eligibility for nontraditional-skilled workers.
Some federal personnel (for example, contractors or non‑career appointees) could be left out because 'employee' is limited to appointments under 5 U.S.C. § 2101, excluding them from benefits or obligations under the Act.
Agencies may face substantial new administrative burdens, costs, and delays to justify degree requirements, revise hiring rules, comply with audits, and respond to a broader sweep of covered entities.
Positions that legitimately require specialized academic training risk being misclassified under looser qualification rules, potentially leading to less-qualified hires for technical roles.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Limits unnecessary degree requirements for federal hiring, creates a STAR hiring path on USAJOBS, and requires a study on training/educational pathways for STAR employees.
Official title: To remove educational barriers to Federal employment for workers who are skilled through alternative routes, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 6, 2026 by S. Raja Krishnamoorthi · Last progress July 6, 2026
Creates new rules and tools to help people without bachelor’s degrees (called "STARs") get hired into and advance within federal executive branch jobs. It limits agencies from requiring college degrees unless OPM finds the degree is necessary, requires OPM to set acceptable alternative qualifications and audits, and creates a STAR hiring path on USAJOBS. Directs OPM and OMB to study what resources would be needed to offer STAR employees education and training pathways (scholarships, apprenticeships, tuition assistance, fellowships) while employed, and to report study findings to relevant congressional oversight committees within 180 days of enactment.