[nirvana]

My point is this: Getting a job for $50k+ is easy when you've got four years of development experience behind you. That puts you ahead of the people just out of school.

I can't speak about non-engineering professions. Its quite possible that the college degree prejudice is much more entrenched there. Doesn't make it any less arbitrary and silly, given the low (really, with only a few exceptions) level of education that colleges provide.

[easp]

You've made many references to engineering jobs, but many engineering professions require not four, but five years of college, with next to no option of employment, much less advancement without it.

Let's be clear, you are talking about software engineering.