Ask HN: CS degrees, do they matter again?

tldr; skip to the --------Last time I "Asked HN", I was in a very different place. Fresh out of a bootcamp, right at the peak, and subsequent collapse of the Covid hiring. It didn't go well. However, another HN reader turned me on to Upwork, and over the last 2 years, I've been building modest freelancing career.I came from an automotive background where I made awful money, moved to the Bay Area, became a bike messenger in San Francisco because I didn't know what to do with myself, and once again made awful money.I had been a hobbyist programmer for years by this point, so I got sucked into the bootcamp racket. The program was great. I got what I needed out of it, although the certificate wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.I landed an ongoing contract on Upwork, which I still work on which really changed everything for me. I also landed an internship at Akamai as a Cloud Support Engineer, which never resulted in employment, but I'm not sure it's the type of work that I really want to be doing. It was more of a foot in the door type thing for me.Either way, I am now making a living off of software development. A lucrative living? no, but it works for my lifestyle.Several years ago, we were all told "You don't need a degree bro, degrees are obsolete bro, companies only care about what you know".I found out that this wasn't true the hard way, however now I at least have some professional experience to my name. The job market is bad for everyone right now. I'm not necessarily looking for a job ATM, but at some point, the grind and hustle of freelancing might either fizzle out, or I might just get tired of it.Now that that's out of the way, here is my question...----------I've thought about doing an online CS degree. It seems like this can be done for less than 15 grand, and also doable while still making money.Is this a bad idea? Is this a good idea? Is this necessary if I want to be employable in the future? Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43816853 Points: 26 # Comments: 75

Avr 28, 2025 - 05:41

Ask HN: CS degrees, do they matter again?

tldr; skip to the --------

Last time I "Asked HN", I was in a very different place. Fresh out of a bootcamp, right at the peak, and subsequent collapse of the Covid hiring. It didn't go well. However, another HN reader turned me on to Upwork, and over the last 2 years, I've been building modest freelancing career.

I came from an automotive background where I made awful money, moved to the Bay Area, became a bike messenger in San Francisco because I didn't know what to do with myself, and once again made awful money.

I had been a hobbyist programmer for years by this point, so I got sucked into the bootcamp racket. The program was great. I got what I needed out of it, although the certificate wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

I landed an ongoing contract on Upwork, which I still work on which really changed everything for me. I also landed an internship at Akamai as a Cloud Support Engineer, which never resulted in employment, but I'm not sure it's the type of work that I really want to be doing. It was more of a foot in the door type thing for me.

Either way, I am now making a living off of software development. A lucrative living? no, but it works for my lifestyle.

Several years ago, we were all told "You don't need a degree bro, degrees are obsolete bro, companies only care about what you know".

I found out that this wasn't true the hard way, however now I at least have some professional experience to my name. The job market is bad for everyone right now. I'm not necessarily looking for a job ATM, but at some point, the grind and hustle of freelancing might either fizzle out, or I might just get tired of it.

Now that that's out of the way, here is my question...

----------

I've thought about doing an online CS degree. It seems like this can be done for less than 15 grand, and also doable while still making money.

Is this a bad idea? Is this a good idea? Is this necessary if I want to be employable in the future?

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43816853

Points: 26

# Comments: 75

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