Newsom Pitches Plan to Help Californians Without Degrees Land High-Paying Jobs

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced the details of a plan aimed at making it easier for Californians to land high-paying jobs, regardless of whether they went to college — and said he wants to invest $100 million to help implement the proposals.

Dubbed the Master Plan for Career Education, Newsom’s blueprint calls for a number of new tools and policies, including making it easier for people without college degrees to get state jobs and earn college credits for things like military service and volunteer work.

Newsom said the plan, introduced at a news conference at Redding’s Shasta College, recognizes that the path to a stable career can run through a four-year degree program but can also come through non-college experience.

“This is around the recognition that we need to create a framework where you can get the benefit of a life well lived that does not include some fancy degree,” Newsom said. “Everybody is included in this agenda.”

Newsom said the state has already implemented portions of the plan, including removing the college degree requirement for nearly 30,000 state jobs; he plans to double that number by next year.

The plan unveiled Monday also calls for the creation of career passports — essentially a digital tool that lays out someone’s academic records, skills and credentials.

It will offer employers an easy place to see a verified record of someone’s abilities. Newsom said the goal of the career passport is to shift hiring practices toward valuing skills over degrees.

“There was a state of mind that was missing as it relates to those who don’t have the desire, need or capacity to imagine a four-year college degree or even a two-year associate’s degree,” Newsom said. “Those that just want to have a vibrant and outstanding career.

The new master plan also calls for expanding an existing program that makes it easier for veterans, members of the military and some others to get college credits for their experience, such as skills learned during military training or volunteer work. Newsom said the economic impacts would be “immediate and substantial,” saving beneficiaries more than $26,000 in immediate college costs and offering more than $160,000 in benefits over a person’s lifetime.

He said that while some colleges already offer credit for prior experience, his plan would create a statewide system that could benefit 250,000 Californians, including 30,000 veterans.

Newsom also wants to create a statewide “planning and coordinating collaborative” that would connect schools, workforce training providers and employers.