I don't really know, but a bachelor degree seems to be the new education minimum in the US. A common question when getting to know somebody is "Where did you go to college (where college means University in yankee speak)?" Those who didn't go to University or didn't complete university seem to have a well thought out answer/excuse to try to minimize awkward conversation. Granted, I personally don't think a University degree is necessarily a sign of intelligence, because obviously people have done great things without some piece of paper that shows that they went to school for 4 years, but employers look at a degree as the ability to commit to self improvement.
These days, you would be hard pressed to find someone who got hired at the majors in the past 15 years in the US without a university degree. The regionals are a different story, however.