Is a Computer Science Degree Worth It?

I went back to school to find out

Photo by Honey Yanibel Minaya Cruz on Unsplash

TL;DR: Is a computer science degree worth it? For me, partially. For you? You tell me.

In August 2018, I enrolled in college to get my computer science degree. However, I wasn’t your typical CS student. First off, I was almost 30 and already had a college degree from nine years earlier. Secondly, I was already a professional software developer with a full-time job.

The vast majority of the other students in my classes were looking either to break into the technology field or to leverage the degree for a better job. But I wasn’t trying to do either of those. So why did I even go back to school if I was already a software engineer? That’s a question I heard a lot. And rightfully so. It seems like a waste of time and money. Or at least it did to the people I told.

There were a number of reasons I chose to get a CS degree, such as improving my computer science and algorithm fundamentals — those areas aren’t my strongest. But there was one primary reason that motivated me to go back to school: to see what all the hype was about.

You see, I’ve written about my journey into tech as a self-taught developer a couple of times. I’ve heard people claim that a CS degree is the only way to become a real software engineer. While those people are in the minority, they were loud enough to make me scratch my head and wonder if they knew something that I didn’t.

“If you don’t have a software engineering degree you’re not a real software engineer. … You only know how to do some code.”

Despite the rise of free or cheap online resources, was it still worth forking over an arm and a leg for a college degree? Was it still the best way to become a software engineer?

Fortunately, I was in a position to answer that question myself. I had an employer that offered reimbursement for college courses, and I found a university with an online CS program that I could do part-time outside of work hours. So I decided to conduct an experiment. I would earn my CS degree and finally see for myself if it is really worth it.

But what does being “worth it” mean? Everyone has their own definition. For my experiment, I…