A college degree from an accredited school validates a person's basic foundation of skills and ability to learn were screened by a board of review (the college admission process), exposed to a wide variety of issues and knowledge that most consider to be desireable in becoming a well-rounded member of society (the liberal arts portion of a college degree program), and successfully completed a demanding set of courses which led to higher learning and achieved a goal determined by an established body of scholars (the major portion of a degree program). If the person did that and still had time to participate in clubs or sports, then all the better to demonstrate the person's ability to manage time, participate in social activities and further their involvement in a society.

Requiring candidates to have a college degree makes the job of evaluating applicants a bit easier because someone else (a college) has validated all that stuff the personnel department would otherwise have to research, confirm and consider.

I know, I probably sound like your dad. Sorry.