[nappsec]

If you're going into a field where you need a solid technical foundation the knowledge is what matters. But if you're going into an unrelated domain like most college grads who enter non-technical, white-collar jobs the diploma is the return because the coursework has no direct relevance to the profession, but employers will filter out applicants without degrees.

Someone with a bachelors in history has a much higher likelihood of being hired for an entry level sales role for example, than someone without one. But that bachelors isn't conferring any unique knowledge about sales.

[ryandrake]

I'd bet that the vast majority of office jobs that require a degree do not actually need or even check for any of the educational content that the degree signifies. They purely use "college degree in anything" as a generic hurdle. No way any employer hiring some generic office assistant whose job is to move papers from one filing cabinet to another and help schedule meetings, is going to care what that person's major was. They just want to see "degree."