Maybe I shouldn't say "beat the system." More like "beat the odds."

I don't have a problem with your opinion as it may relate to graduates of certain programs (you know who I'm talking about), but on this board, in general, the people who get most in a huff and make silly excuses justifying their actions are the handful on this board who don't have degrees and wear it on their sleeves. Anytime someone proposes a degree requirement, you can count on someone to come out of the woodwork to say "well I got my ratings at 18 and I'm just as good as you."

The problem isn't that you're not a better pilot without a degree...it's the fact that you have less formal education, and thus lie below one of the few quantifiable lines we can draw if we are going to raise standards.

So I contend that your assertion that people are on here to justify their degrees is, in fact, 100% backward from whats going on here. People with degrees in this profession are in the overwhelming majority and don't need to justify anything.

All of us were told before we got into this industry that you should get your degree first, and that you're rolling the dice if you didn't...and if you didn't, don't get on here and make excuses for something that, FAA rule or not, is an industry standard that most are held to at Legacies. I would argue that there has ALWAYS been a de facto degree requirement in place, with exception to those who have had miraculous timing or good connections (and again, good for them).

This is no different than the 1500 hour minimum. There are guys who are better pilots at 500 hours than some with 7000 hours. Some people could have graduated from Middle School and done this. But at some point an arbitrary line needs to be drawn.

Online Degrees, well I agree that's a weakness in the degree argument, but one we'll leave for a future 20 page thread.