It depends... I know that most of what I learn in cooledge is "worthless" - but the paper itself holds some value. I got an AA in CIS and immediately took the

It depends... I know that most of what I learn in cooledge is "worthless" - but the paper itself holds some value. I got an AA in CIS and immediately took the first job within range (I live in farmland, so programming jobs aren't exactly normal within range). The paper got my foot in the door, but now I have provable experience and solid, real references. I'm still going to school, slowly working towards my BA. I have experience, so why am I getting my BA? Because there are opportunities I've been passed over simply due to AA vs BA/MBA/etc. The key is to actually think about things and balance what you want and the cost of college. For too many the only goal is paper, without a thought to how that translates into green. Thus you end up with a 100k piece of paper with someone working at McDonalds or Star Bucks. I'm using accredited classes, at an affordable accredited school - affordable is the important part. I will have my BA with no debt to show and years of experience in the field I've chosen.