By trekking through a great deal of intellectual territory in college, way more than you will in an equivalent span of working years, you're mitigating a big ri

By trekking through a great deal of intellectual territory in college, way more than you will in an equivalent span of working years, you're mitigating a big risk. That's the risk that you will find it difficult to span gaps in your understanding as your occupation and your career go through earthshaking changes. As a software developer it is pretty well certain that you will be affected by these kinds of changes. With college behind you, you will have a greater range of topics in your repertoire and the confidence of knowing that you have faced plenty of difficult topics before. It's not as though a bright developer who bypasses college cannot dealt with change. But college helps.