Personally, I think that Gene's original idea that 'everyone is an officer' was a mistake, at least in the way that the US military currently appoints their officers, which generally involves attaining a college degree, which would seem to be resonable in way for all engineers, scientists and command/flight personnel, but would seem to be rather 'overkill' for storekeepers, yeomen or security guards?
If on the other hand, we look at the police or RN 'officer' model, then - while I'm personally in favour of having officers and enlisted' it might be possible to make it work.
Looking at the career of Janice Rand, who (per VOY: Flashback) took "three years to make Ensign" we could speculate that non-Command track personnel have two options: a) Spend, on average, four years at the Academy and graduate as an Ensign (with the potential to be assigned a Department Head on a smaller vessel or a Divisional Officer on a bigger one) - this is the approach taken by most of the 'hero' characters; or b) attend a more specialist course taking less than a year (at least one course is only about seven months) and join the Fleet as a Crewman/Midshipman (overalls/blank sleeved shirt during TOS, blank collar during TNG+), then with some experience and training, you are promoted to Chief/Warrant Officer (overalls/blank sleeved shirt during TOS, single hollow pip during TNG+), qualified to lead teams or work alone but not to command, then after two or three years in the service, you attend Advanced Training in your area (Command School, Adv Tactical Training etc) and are then promoted to Ensign (blank sleeved shirt during TOS, single gold pip during TNG+).
Two routes, but any capable candiates would be more than capable of 'crossing the line' and it would soften the 'elitism' of the current two+ tier system.
(NB: I personally think that there's nothing wrong with the two tier system that couldn't be solved by a bit more consistency, but I think the above represents a resonable attempt at workable system that embraces the 'spirit' of Gene's 'all officer Starfeet' while tweaking the 'letter' to avoid the issues inherent in an 'all four year college graduate Starfleet'.)
If on the other hand, we look at the police or RN 'officer' model, then - while I'm personally in favour of having officers and enlisted' it might be possible to make it work.
Looking at the career of Janice Rand, who (per VOY: Flashback) took "three years to make Ensign" we could speculate that non-Command track personnel have two options: a) Spend, on average, four years at the Academy and graduate as an Ensign (with the potential to be assigned a Department Head on a smaller vessel or a Divisional Officer on a bigger one) - this is the approach taken by most of the 'hero' characters; or b) attend a more specialist course taking less than a year (at least one course is only about seven months) and join the Fleet as a Crewman/Midshipman (overalls/blank sleeved shirt during TOS, blank collar during TNG+), then with some experience and training, you are promoted to Chief/Warrant Officer (overalls/blank sleeved shirt during TOS, single hollow pip during TNG+), qualified to lead teams or work alone but not to command, then after two or three years in the service, you attend Advanced Training in your area (Command School, Adv Tactical Training etc) and are then promoted to Ensign (blank sleeved shirt during TOS, single gold pip during TNG+).
Two routes, but any capable candiates would be more than capable of 'crossing the line' and it would soften the 'elitism' of the current two+ tier system.
(NB: I personally think that there's nothing wrong with the two tier system that couldn't be solved by a bit more consistency, but I think the above represents a resonable attempt at workable system that embraces the 'spirit' of Gene's 'all officer Starfeet' while tweaking the 'letter' to avoid the issues inherent in an 'all four year college graduate Starfleet'.)
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