[djafaricom]

A BS from a well-respected CS program indicates a certain level of knowledge and understanding that helps potential employers sift through resumes more easily. It's not perfect, but it is to be expected. As long as we are faced with going through HR departments, that slip of paper has big value.

I would try to go to a legitimately quality school even if it is not a top-tier one like Stanford or MIT. A decent school will definitely kick start your learning, but you still have to face the fact that some of your most important learning will be done solo (imo).

I'm definitely with jeremy on the fact that a real university which offers distance learning is far superior than most "e-campus". I seem to remember the University of Florida having a fairly good online program, but they, like many other distance learning variants, do require that you actually come to school once in a while for finals and such.

[qeorge]

Great advice. I'd like to add that some (most?) distance ed programs will allow you to take exams and finals locally. They can coordinate with a local university or testing center to ID you and proctor the exam on their behalf. So you've probably got a lot more options than you might think.

I attended NCSU in person, but they have a great distance ed program: http://distance.ncsu.edu. Worth checking out.