[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Then, in Griggs v. Duke Power Co (1971), the Supreme Court ruled that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, if such tests disparately impact ethnic minority groups, businesses must demonstrate that such tests are "reasonably related" to the job for which the test is required. So businesses decided to require degrees as an expensive substitute for such tests.

I've been looking for this answer for 25 years. I could never understand why businesses cared about college degrees.

[PapaBear3625]

I've been looking for this answer for 25 years. I could never understand why businesses cared about college degrees.

By the 80's, a high-school diploma was essentially worthless as an indicator of basic literacy. Now, in 2013, a BA is not necessarily evidence of being able to read, write, and think.

But we are at a point where there would be extreme pushback against requiring a Masters degree for entry-level jobs, so the whole idea of using a diploma as a substitute for tests and references may have reached its limits.