FWIW, I won't bother with anybody in my life that requires a degree for anything, even teaching. Having a degree for something is, IMHO, no better than having a JD Power & Associates award, which is not very valuable. Now, are there countless people with PhDs who are terrific and very intelligent? Yes. Are they terrific and very intelligent because they received degrees? No, and furthermore, they'll probably achieve less than their drop-out counterparts (e.g., Steve Jobs, Bill Gates) or their "bad student" counterparts (e.g., Albert Einstein). Even Napoleon Bonaparte dropped out of Berkley at age 22... just making sure you were paying attention :)