I had assumed you were framing things as them being out of context with 'real life' when you characterized them as "1% types." As for recruiting - that's what I

I had assumed you were framing things as them being out of context with 'real life' when you characterized them as "1% types." As for recruiting - that's what I was getting at. Different life experiences lead us to radically different views here. Your experience of finding your degree absolutely necessary is not necessarily indicative of people at large (depending on your field), though I'd fully grant neither is mine. It's just anecdata. In either case, I'd fully agree with you though that a degree makes things much easier for most people. However, I think that is rapidly changing. Most of the big tech employers are now dropping college degree requirements and I expect we'll gradually see the same in ever more fields. A degree used to say a good deal about a person, and all positive. Now that's changing, and so the market is adjusting in response.