Getting a CS degree with about 30 years of experience

I got my degree in my mid- to late-twenties. I got it for two reasons; the industry was moving towards "needs a degree for this kind of work" and "I am a high school drop out with dyslexia, disgraphia and severe learning difficulties that was put in to every remedial class in every subject that was repeatedly told I would never amount to anything and this piece of paper would make my parents very proud."

So... get a degree for two reasons: when the job says "needs a degree" you can say "yes" but primarily, do it because you want that life achievement.

Now... don't go the traditional route of 99.9% of all Americans (I am assuming you are in the US for this thought exercise) and instead think outside of the box and outside of your geography. You can complete a relevant degree in a much shorter period of time, and for far less money, than a traditional path.

I am not affiliated in any way with any of the following organizations beyond actually have done some of their offerings.

TESU - Thomas Edison State University offers a variety of Computer/IT degrees, for less than $15K (actually less than $10K IIRC) whereby you can test-out of many classes uses CLEP, etc, and also receive PLA (non-traditional prior learning assessment) which can both accelerate your degree completion schedule and significantly reduce your costs.

OpenClassrooms - a French company that offers officially recognized degrees by the French goverment and approved by several French universities -- not all programmes offer a state recognized degree but many of them are -- and you can complete a degree reasonably quickly and for a reasonable amount of money. Under $6,000 in most cases.

Structuralia - A Spanish company that is very similar to OpenClassrooms but with a wider offering of programmes. Read the wording on each offering carefully as some are what the Spanish government calls "official degrees" and some are referred to as "university recognized."

I also suggest hanging out on the degreeforum.net and reading up on options available. You will run in to people on that forum that hold a half-dozen very legitimate degrees, usually obtained through non-traditional routes, and proudly displayed in their post signatures like some people display the build stats on their gaming PC.

I hold two associates, a full bachelor's, five master's, and a dozen post-graduate diplomas, and I don't think I ever paid more than $8K for any one of them.

Only you can answer whether you really would find value in a degree, but I suspect what you are feeling is the downward pressure from job ads of "must have a degree." Most jobs, once you are in the door, don't care.

Here's a useful tip: Once you're enrolled on your degree, you can put it on your C.V. and in brackets put "to be awarded." Very few places will care you don't have it yet.

/r/cscareerquestions Thread