I'm going to go out on a limb here, but it's an honest limb.
For the world I've lived in for the last 25 years, commercial and contract software development, I would go so far as to say a degree in some sort of computer science is actually a detriment.
Going through the list of co-workers I've had, there is a definite pattern of the ones that were self-taught were better programmers than the ones with degrees. Of course, there were exceptions, but it was when someone caught the programming bug before they went to college.
It seems that the success of our industry caused people to get the idea it was a great degree for getting a good job after college, but they didn't realize it takes passion to stay on the perpetual learning curve. They are often difficult to get good results out of, both technically and personally.
Anecdotally, our current team of 15 the, 5 of the 6 best programmers are self taught, including the excellent lead programmer (well, one of those 5 is a college drop-out, as am I). One of the first programming jobs I had was for a what most of would consider an industry luminary of his day, and he was self taught. When I moved on the next job was run by a self-taught programmer, as is the company I work at today.
I'm not saying a degree in something computery is bad, it just not the advantage the other degrees seem to be. And to a certain degree (no pun intended) I wish it was. It just doesn't seem like a computery degree properly prepares people for the actual rigors they will face.
And you may be correct in that perhaps a self-taught programmer prefers a self taught programmer and that's the sort of group we have formed. Hence my "anecdotally."
But in the end, the proof is in the pudding. When you've got to deliver, and the people who deliver best are self-taught, then in really reinforces that assumption.
For the world I've lived in for the last 25 years, commercial and contract software development, I would go so far as to say a degree in some sort of computer science is actually a detriment.
Going through the list of co-workers I've had, there is a definite pattern of the ones that were self-taught were better programmers than the ones with degrees. Of course, there were exceptions, but it was when someone caught the programming bug before they went to college.
It seems that the success of our industry caused people to get the idea it was a great degree for getting a good job after college, but they didn't realize it takes passion to stay on the perpetual learning curve. They are often difficult to get good results out of, both technically and personally.
Anecdotally, our current team of 15 the, 5 of the 6 best programmers are self taught, including the excellent lead programmer (well, one of those 5 is a college drop-out, as am I). One of the first programming jobs I had was for a what most of would consider an industry luminary of his day, and he was self taught. When I moved on the next job was run by a self-taught programmer, as is the company I work at today.
I'm not saying a degree in something computery is bad, it just not the advantage the other degrees seem to be. And to a certain degree (no pun intended) I wish it was. It just doesn't seem like a computery degree properly prepares people for the actual rigors they will face.