Huh. I started working directly after high school; less than 2 years after I graduated, I was The Tech Guy at the largest ISP in Chicago, and just a few years later a developer at the first commercial vulnerability research lab.
I never really even had a chance to think about a degree.
I smelled sarcasm, thanks for clarifying. Otherwise, why would you consider getting back to college? Nostalgia for college days or just because you didn't had that experience? What value do you think it could bring? (I dropped for 2 years, and still not sure what to do next)
Seems like have you have done great without that piece of paper. What degree would you like go for? A BS majoring in CS?
Or maybe think about learning some of the things you missed out on by not having the time to go to college (mostly non tech stuff I guess).
Perhaps a degree is really just a well thougth out education plan more than a certificate. You learn this list of things and you are "educated" to some level generally (a liberal arts BA & BS) with an emphasis on some subjects (your majors). More advanced or vocational degrees would be more focused plans on a single area.
Credentials seem to make the most sense when you are just starting out or when you want to start over in a new area because you have little if any experience.
More regulated areas simply require a piece of paper. Not that this always seems to help: in California to be a mortgage broker you need a real estate license which requires you pass several college level classes, take an long exam, get fingerprinted and have a certain amount of experience. Yet none of this prevented all the problems we recently saw.
I never really even had a chance to think about a degree.
Maybe now I should!