Evan Vucci/Associated Press; Alex Brandon/Associated Press; Brad Doherty/Brownsville Herald, via Associated Press

Among the jobs in this country that don’t require a college degree is that of a member of Congress. Which raises a question, at least as far as a recent article by Scripps Howard News Service is concerned: How many of those elected to the House and the Senate did not graduate from college?

The answer: 27 House members and 1 Senator, or 5 percent, according to the article, citing the Congressional Research Service.

One of them, Representative Solomon Ortiz, Democrat of Texas, is quoted by the news service as saying that he sees no difference between himself, a high school dropout who joined the Army to help his mother support his family, and his more credentialed colleagues. “They put their pants on the same way I put my pants on,” the article quotes him as saying.

Other representatives without degrees who are quoted in the article are Steve King, Republican of Iowa, who said he learned about the issues important to his constituents by running a small construction business, and Doc Hastings, Republican of Washington, who cites his experience in the United States Junior Chamber, or Jaycees.

The article also quotes Steven Taylor, professor of government at American University, as predicting that a college degree will be increasingly important to members of the House and Senate. (As recently as four decades ago, at least 54 in the House and Senate were not college graduates.)

“College degree credentials are becoming so much more relevant by the second,” he told Scripps. (As it stands now, the article says, 169 House members and 57 senators not only have college degrees, but law degrees as well.)

Do readers of The Choice have thoughts on whether a lawmaker without a college degree is at any inherent disadvantage in serving his or her constituents? Please use the comment box below to let us know.