After reading this thread I had to include my thoughts regarding this. Certifications/Degrees can be good, but they should not be regarded as a degree of skill. If employers only wish to look at those items (Certs/Degrees) then it becomes yet another political agenda and further delays the success of a company's goal or target. This of course is not the case for all Certifided folks but none the less. I'll never forget the day (years ago) I walked into work and saw a MCSE with a look like a deer stuck in the headlights of a tractor trailor about to be hit. Yes, a a Cert did a great job there as hundreds of people couldn't access email of months and months, while the fix for this was to call MS support and wait on hold only to be told that the backup of the email was corrupt. Unconventional methods of a non-certifided were able to recover the lost data. Not to generalize here, but most of the Certified folks I have worked with are what we consider "paper tigers". If its not in the text book then your in trouble. I'll agree that a Degree will help perhaps in the finer items for the overall picture of a network but I'll not say it makes one a network engineer or expert. The only thing I found useful with college was that it helped when explaining what I do or plan to do to management. Well, you just have to love those job postings that say "CCIE + MCSE + CCNE + A++ preferred" and note to sell or not buy that stock. just my 2¢s -Joe (No certs)