Pennsylvania

many of the federal PDs (Position Descriptions) will say "4-year degree or equivalent experience" meaning that you might have someone who has a 2- year associate's degree in some field and then perhaps 10 years of work experience that also included periodic and/or annual training for various certifications, etc.

What this does is allow for entry level hires without 4-year degrees who can then, if they choose, advance their career to a higher level position/pay scale upon completion of one.

During my own work career including as a supervisor, I don't remember how many I have mentored over the years who had no degree but who saw a position they enjoyed (and often were already doing most of the work for) but were not paid commensurate because of the lack of the "degree".

So pathways were created (often with subsidies and other accommodations) for that employee to get additional educational credits, usually enough to confer a degree with an approved plan.

Many Community Colleges and other higher learning institutions that confer degrees, actually convert "work experience" into credits that are applicable towards an associate's, bachelors, or even masters degree. I know I did similar with getting a master's certificate in project management and had I decided to take all the certification exams and another year's worth of courses, could have actually done it as a full masters thing.