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> lots of people go to college for some reason and the ones who are successful are vastly more likely to have a degree than not have a degree

I think it would be hard to find self-teachable software devs who are unsuccessful, degree or not.

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In my experience you need to wait until you get older. People in their 20's don't seem to have much of a problem, people in their 30's find they lose out on jobs which seem like a great fit, people in their 40's find they don't even get an onsite interview. Sometimes it is a salary thing (capping out regardless of years of experience). I know of three people who are or were in their 40s and went back to school to get their bachelor degrees just so that they can check that box, and like people who realize getting married actually is different than committed living together, so far they have found what they are learning about the process of thinking quite different than what they expected.

I think it depends on how in demand the jobs are. Where I'm at, having no education section on my resume is no barrier. In my late 40s now, moving to a lower-demand state in a few years. Will see if you're right.

A buddy of mine in Chicago who has been working on getting his degree for decades. It does seem more important there.

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