Experience will always trump a degree and here is why I say that. It depends on what world you want to enter. Do you want to enter the corporate world? Yes, then you might need a degree but it really doesn't gaurantee anything. It gets you to the interview, your skills or lack there of get you the job when its time to show you can write. So many people use google to help them with their code instead of actually learning how to write ande debug. If you actually know your craft and are a master at it, you can self promote yourself. You don't need to get hired in that sense. You can freelance your talents online and make plenty of money. There are people who make like 30-40k a year on odesk helping start ups.