This is like saying "if you have a lot of money to throw at the problem, you will likely solve it". The kid who went to Stanford could afford to go there in th

This is like saying "if you have a lot of money to throw at the problem, you will likely solve it". The kid who went to Stanford could afford to go there in the first place. A lot of things in life are different for kids like this one, hiring notwithstanding. That kind of "kid" probably won't need to go through the same job application processes as someone who could only afford a community college. Also... comparing time and money investment you'd have to make to get into Stanford to investment you'd have to make to contribute to an opensource project is orders of magnitude not in favor of Stanford. Also, as someone who actually had to hire for system programming jobs -- I wouldn't care about candidate's degree and would be put off if the candidate tried to force the subject. In my experience, there's very little overlap between system programming and college curriculum. So, I wouldn't be so sure the "Stanford kid" is getting a job. College education helps you get into "programmer mills" companies like the big names with large internship / junior education programs. Smaller companies who don't have the capacity to provide on-the-job education, especially in the face of low retention factor wouldn't be interested in hiring Ivy league graduates if graduation from an Ivy league university was the only thing going on for them.