> When have "credentials", ie. higher education, not been a
> requirement to move into the professional ranks?
It's not just professional ranks; in some cases it's minimum wage jobs.
I think I've told the story here before about dropping off my car at the dealership to get worked on, and an early-20s-ish white guy stepped up and installed some plastic covers on my seat and steering wheel so that the mechanics wouldn't get oil on them. He was wearing a UC Davis sweatshirt. I went to UC Berkeley, so I asked: what are you studying? He said: oh, I graduated last year.
So now you need a university degree to put plastic covers on cars.
Of the black men who applied for that job, how many do you think had a university degree?
Do you think it was easy for the boss to make a decision?
Colleges are stuffed with people who would have just gotten a job after high school a generation ago, except now they have to have a college degree.
/jordan
(and what's worse is that despite all these degrees floating around, you still can't get a decent cup of espresso at Starbucks!)