The credential for the job listing is related to the treaties and visas for people applying to work in the US. If the job listing on the BLS didn't specify tha

The credential for the job listing is related to the treaties and visas for people applying to work in the US. If the job listing on the BLS didn't specify that it needed a degree, then the software developer wouldn't fall under the H-1B or the TN visa. Instead of the H-1B (which is a specialist worker) it software developer would fall under the H-2B and anyone (degree or not) could get a visa because no skills are required... however that also means that it would fall into the "one time occurrence", "seasonal need", "peak load need" or "intermittent need" for people working on the H-2B visa. Another "this makes things interesting" with a switch from a specialist worker to a non-specialist one, is that there is a list of countries that may apply to work on a H-2B visa... and it doesn't include India. --- The job listing defined by one agency BLS has impacts on the way people can get visas and which visas. Removing the degree requirement would effectively make it so that there are no even marginally qualified applications with a visa.