The short and obvious answer is a big “No” but if you realise life is complicated and there are no single word answer to almost any question or endeavour, please continue reading.

It depends on destination

Do you want to demand for higher salary in a big company or corporation? I think it would be a good investment to pursue getting a degree in your field. Although more and more organisations are adapting their policies to the fact that degrees are not everything, still the majority are going to compensate you more if you are in fact certified by an institution.

Do you want to work for a startup? Do you want to become a freelancer developer? Or you are not sure if this is the right career path for you yet? Then I would stick to other options. I’m going to explain different options in the next paragraphs.

Coding camps

This is a great option if you want to learn quickly and get into the market. Some code camps even guarantee job opportunities and some have already contracts with companies so you are somehow being trained and recruited at the same time. In majority of cases you need to pay a premium for these camps however many of them offer you free or cheap education by agreeing to take a part of your salary once you find a job.

Although it sounds great, there are some points you need to consider. The programs are mostly intensive and that’s a feature not a bug but if your personality doesn’t align with this types of courses, it can be frustrating or even disappointing. Another drawback is that you will not really learn the concepts deeply so if you are a sort of person who want to know everything such as theory or mathematics, you are going to be disappointed.

As I said, these are not really negative points because the main focus of these camps are getting you up and running fast with the bare minimum. The rest is up to you.

Self learning path

This is the path that I chose and perhaps it’s the most challenging one. It really depends on your personality. Are you detail oriented? Analytical ? Motivated enough to put some boundaries and exercise self discipline? Then this is for you. The sky is the limit of what you can learn and how deep you want to dig. If you don’t give up after a few months, things are probably going to get easier.

In addition to all the difficulties I mentioned, there are even more to watch out. There will be a lot of things that you will get wrong therefore you will lose a lot of time due to unlearning and relearning. It would be extremely difficult if not impossible to get anywhere without a bit of outside help from a professional or an instructor so I highly recommend you find somebody who can answer some of your questions especially in the beginning so you don’t get overwhelmed or lost.

Disadvantageous of having a degree

Getting a degree can offer you opportunities that it would be very difficult or impossible to reach without it however, it is not all positive. I am going to mention some drawbacks that you need to consider. 


Time & Cost

You end up spending years studying for a certificate or a degree by going to many lectures/classes and doing a lot of theoretical assignments. If you just want to learn how to program & find a job, probably not the best option when you consider the costs that are involved. You can of course have a part time job but that will just complicate things even further. It is true that you end up learning things more in depth but there are other alternatives such as books or library.

Obsolescence

It is no news that technology moves rapidly & in the past couple of decades, the digital area has been growing in an exponential manner. This is wonderful if you can adapt and connect different skills together to utilise the most out of your resources however, if you enrol in a university program you will be committed to study for a minimum of 3-4 years. That is a very big time frame in today’s technology. 

It is very well possible that by the time you graduate, what you were learning is in fact obsolete. Of course this is the case if you choose to study a specialised subject. If you decide to study something more mathematical or computer science oriented, you won’t get hurt by the speed of technology’s growth because those subjects are fundamental to every new technology.

Psychological Barriers

This is something that I have experienced first hand. In my interactions with many people who had degrees in different disciplines, I have realised that somehow they think that they have learned enough already. A medical doctor friend of mine once said : “I haven’t read a single book since I graduated” & he was proud of the fact. I have experienced similar situations in the IT world where a person with a PhD would be very rigid to change & wouldn’t want to learn new concepts & methodologies. 

Part of it could be because of the huge amount of work that is involved to get certified which once achieved, automatically release the sense or urge to learn more. Of course this factor is different from person to person. Some people end up even learning more even when they are graduated & some do so even without going to the university.

Conclusion

I have given enough pros & cons as to what approach makes more sense in your situation. Please take everything that is mentioned here with a grain of salt & apply it to your own experience. Information Technology is not like the Medical industry where you are required to get certified by a higher education institution so the options are numerous however you must weigh in the points because they can result in different outcomes for any individual.