The main reason for this is to give every sailor the same opportunity for promotion. Another reason is to get the focus in the right place for both of these achievements. We want to promote the most qualified sailors. Warfare qualifications have been an individual program for too long. The warfare programs should build teamwork, esprit de corps, and unit pride.
College degrees are very similar.
Voluntary education improves the cognitive processes. Both achievements in and of themselves make sailors more competitive for promotion. Both are readiness improvement tools and as such are too important to be mere advancement tools. They allow me to look a sailor in the eye and tell them they have an equal chance to promote. Keep charging, I'll see you about the fleet.