In the IT industry in general (programmers, sysadmins, etc.), formal education isn't quite as hard a requirement as it is in other fields or industries -- often

In the IT industry in general (programmers, sysadmins, etc.), formal education isn't quite as hard a requirement as it is in other fields or industries -- often because so many of us are mostly "self-taught". For example, I would be more likely to hire someone with no formal education (beyond, say, high school) and four years of relevant, "in the trenches" experience over someone with zero real-world experience and a degree whose ink is still wet (and I have done that just, FWIW). That's not to say that a college education is a waste; it's absolutely not, of course. You'll learn things there that you typically won't learn on the job (algorithms, etc.) and the networking and connections you make there can be extremely beneficial later on as well.