Matthew, I agree, however, there's a general trend I've noticed within this conversation: technical v thoughtful ability.

From my experience, programming requires both understanding and experience. What you learn in college does not necessarily correlate to success in a technical field (especially when you're coming out of a Liberal Arts university as I did).

Simply put, when it comes to a technical field:

(Past experience + understanding + execution) > a Liberal Arts degree.

But you shouldn't disregard a degree when it comes to thinking + innovation. College provides an invaluable means to look/analyze the world around you.

I wrote about this a few days ago that may be of interest:

http://datainsightsideas.com/post/35471878/