Maybe pick a better school? I'm not from the area, so I've never heard of Michigan Technical University and don't know what their merits are from a CS perspect

Maybe pick a better school? I'm not from the area, so I've never heard of Michigan Technical University and don't know what their merits are from a CS perspective. Also, dropping out near the end of your junior year seems a poor return. You've paid 3/4 of the tuition and are getting no benefit from the degree. And if everything was as easy as you say, then you should have a near perfect GPA. As for why your employer cares. It's an easy screening criteria. Chances are % of people who don't have a college degree and are any good, is pretty low. So, it's easy to just interview the ones with college degrees, good GPAs, and come from good schools. It's an employers market out there.