You're in essence saying that a degree is maturity. This is far from the truth simply look at a lot of lawyers who have master's but are so immature and corrupt you wouldn't want one to "babysit" another insulting comment to the crew that actually manages the majority of the flight while you sit in the front talking about how you had this great steak in Miami with this vegan model who also happens to be a pilot. Playing the game and putting money into a system that is overprice and produces absolutely minimal value with today's readily available resources and saying that you just have to make this bad financial decisions for the sake of getting a job is like saying. "It's always been this way, there's nothing better; do it or you're not playing the game right". Pre-1990 degrees were not the standard less than half had them. Now the market is saturated with degrees. I'll again say it- if a degree is truly a sign of more maturity then ADM and the hogan would be passed much easier and flights would be much safer with a pilot with fewer hours and a degree in underwater basket weaving than a pilot who is well versed in aviation from hands on experience and obsessive by nature in researching the mechanical and geographical information associated with safe travels.