[Hoot Gibson]

Then you should be for someone to study your trade on the internet, until they train themselves to be as good as you, without a college education, and then hire onto the same type job as you, without a college degree?

FYI, I have worked with several outstanding programmers who have no college degree and my degree is not really related to my profession. Computer technology advances so quickly, it is much better to hire somebody who understands that education should be a lifelong process that does not end with a piece of paper than somebody who sees a college degree as a meal ticket.

I am not a big believer in using college degrees, professional licenses, or unions as a tool to artificially keep salaries high. If you are a high school freshman who is a great programmer, then some company will be willing to pay you top dollar as soon as you want to drop out of high school. Pay should always be tied to performance, not to credentials, IMO.

One of the smartest people with whom I have ever worked, IMO, was a mine section foreman in Logan County, who was a high school dropout but a genius when it came to managing and motivating people. It is wrong when organizations like the AMA or Society of Professional Engineers work to inflate members' salaries at the expense of the general public and it is wrong when unions do the same. People should be paid for the value of the service that they provide not because they belong to some club.