Millions of people file income taxes themselves each year, while others turn to the pros, including certified public accountants, for help.

CPAs have a valued role in our society, but the job is yet another reminder of how credentialism goes too far. Being a CPA requires a broad range of knowledge about laws and finances . Every state requires a government-issued certification to become a CPA, but the standards to become a CPA are not uniform throughout the country.

Four states do not require someone to have a bachelor’s degree in accounting to become a licensed CPA. In states such as Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Georgia, prospective CPAs must have between 18 to 21 credit hours in accounting classes. States may also require various amounts of experience working under a CPA or working in nonpublic accounting for someone to obtain the license.

The bachelor’s degree requirement has flaws for a few reasons.

One is that not all bachelor’s degrees in a major are equal. For example, Massachusetts has Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, two of the most prestigious colleges in the country. Over the past few years, it has also had colleges that have lost their accreditation, including Bay State College .

The other is that states generally require prospective accountants to take a CPA exam to become licensed as a CPA. Why must they all obtain the knowledge necessary to become a CPA using the same traditional means? Not everyone who goes to college for accounting passes the CPA test; the pass rate of these exams is about 50%, according to Surgent .

If someone has a better way to get the knowledge necessary to become a CPA, whether it is building work experience in accounting or conducting intensive research about the profession online, why not allow them the opportunity to take the exam, provided that they pay any fees associated with doing so? That is not to say that lifting the degree requirement would result in a massive influx of people ready to ace the CPA exam in every state. However, perhaps some people have developed the necessary knowledge to pass the exam outside a traditional classroom setting.

Plus, college is expensive. The average college student who graduates enters the world with more than $30,000 in student loan debt. One way to avoid this debt is to avoid college. However, the government and society must make it easier for people to obtain well-paying jobs without a degree to make that happen. They can do so by emphasizing skills and work experience over pieces of paper from expensive institutions of varying quality.

While it is unlikely that any state will abolish its CPA licensing requirement anytime soon, states should deemphasize the need for a typical college education wherever possible, including for CPAs.

Tom Joyce ( @TomJoyceSports ) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.