> However, already by having been through the degree there is a whole set of skills that one would not have gotten otherwise.
Of course you would/could.
1) a degree doesn't imply you've built any specific skills or retained any information, just that you passed a set of exams. I've met a huge bunch of people from important universities that clearly studied just to pass exams with good degrees, but where absolutely crap problem solvers and even worse coders.
2) plenty of brilliant engineers did not graduate, from Leonardo Da Vinci to, just to stay in software John Carmack, Zuckerberg, Paul Allen, Romero, Wozniak (technically he did, 12 years after founding Apple), Karp, and many others.
What I'm trying to say: engineering skills are acquired by sheer will of studying and solving problems. And in 2025 you can follow pretty much any course/lecture from most top rated courses just watching your computer. A person doing so with interest will leapfrog anybody sitting there and going through the exam just because he has to.
Except most people that call themselves Engineers without a degree aren't Leonardo Da Vinci, or any of the others listed by you.
Exceptional individuals that made an impact to mankind, regardless of which kind.
There are schools for special developed kids with advanced cognitive skills for a reason.
Also there is a huge difference between being immersed in an engineering degree between 3 to 5 years almost every single day with compulsory assignments, depending on the country, and occasionally watch a couple of videos, or read one or two books.
This all without getting into the soft and ethical skills that engineering degrees also require.
Like in Portugal, and in many countries yes, usually having Software Engineer on legally bound contracts implies taking the final examination.
However, already by having been through the degree there is a whole set of skills that one would not have gotten otherwise.
Assuming that they actually did it the right way, and not getting through it with minimal effort.
> However, already by having been through the degree there is a whole set of skills that one would not have gotten otherwise.
Of course you would/could.
1) a degree doesn't imply you've built any specific skills or retained any information, just that you passed a set of exams. I've met a huge bunch of people from important universities that clearly studied just to pass exams with good degrees, but where absolutely crap problem solvers and even worse coders.
2) plenty of brilliant engineers did not graduate, from Leonardo Da Vinci to, just to stay in software John Carmack, Zuckerberg, Paul Allen, Romero, Wozniak (technically he did, 12 years after founding Apple), Karp, and many others.
What I'm trying to say: engineering skills are acquired by sheer will of studying and solving problems. And in 2025 you can follow pretty much any course/lecture from most top rated courses just watching your computer. A person doing so with interest will leapfrog anybody sitting there and going through the exam just because he has to.
Except most people that call themselves Engineers without a degree aren't Leonardo Da Vinci, or any of the others listed by you.
Exceptional individuals that made an impact to mankind, regardless of which kind.
There are schools for special developed kids with advanced cognitive skills for a reason.
Also there is a huge difference between being immersed in an engineering degree between 3 to 5 years almost every single day with compulsory assignments, depending on the country, and occasionally watch a couple of videos, or read one or two books.
This all without getting into the soft and ethical skills that engineering degrees also require.