Compensation is purely driven by supply and demand. I suppose you're right and that there are plenty of programming jobs that don't require a degree in Compute

Compensation is purely driven by supply and demand. I suppose you're right and that there are plenty of programming jobs that don't require a degree in Computer Science, but there are still jobs where you definitely do want candidates with a formal education in CS. The onus is on each employer to know what they need and act accordingly. The fact that most interviews revolve around evaluating a candidate's knowledge of college level data structures and algorithms regardless of actual job requirements, it's employers' own fault if they can't find what they need.