There is no replacement for knowledge (Score 2, Insightful)

A degree is great and all to get you into an interview but tech geeks judge each other on two things... how smart you are, and what you know. So if you come out of your 4 year degree comfortable with visual studio, fully versed in .net, C++, C#, XML and related technologies, AJAX, SQL knowledge and whatever else pops up between now and then. Most of all you must know how to apply your programming knowledge to solving problems presented to you. This will require a thorough top to bottom understanding of computers and how they are actually used. I'm almost 35, I have no degree but I've been working in the industry for 15 years.