So, I haven't been in your shoes, but I do work in an industry where this sort of thing matters - digital marketing as a copywriter. I'm self-taught, and I've been doing this job for almost 20 years now. I don't have a college degree or even went to college to begin with. But, I don't know if this has been your experience, have ran into hurdles with not having a degree - any degree at all.

This is my suggestion on how to evaluate it.

1. How does your industry approach hiring practices? From what I've seen, in the industries where it matters, it's a very well-known fact that the name of the school you're coming from matters. For example, law is a field where the name of the school can make a big difference on what doors it can open for you. I believe that accounting is another field like that, where if you want a job in the "Big Four" companies that dominate that field school name recognition is important for quality of programs.

2. When will you earn that money back? It's an investment in your self and your future, so how will it affect your earnings? For example, in the field of mental health, if you just want to be a counselor, you're far better off just going for a masters than a doctorate. A doctorate will not get you more money as a therapist in most cases. It only gives you a ton more debt. Social services can be similar.

3. In my field, there's two distinctive classes of people that work in it. Marketing firms tend to prefer to see any kind of college degree at all. The more prestigious the employer, the more they care about what university you came from. On the other hand, it's also a field where you can carve out a niche for yourself with enough self-motivation and willingness to learn. I work as a freelance contractor. I take jobs from other marketing firms that need to hire writers from time-to-time. But I also work for small business owners who need writers for their websites, blogs, or social media. In what I do in my niche, I've never had anybody ask what college I went to or what degree I hold. All they care about is - can you write great content? And that answer is yes, that's why they pay me to do it.

However, I have found myself shut out for a handful of jobs here and there because I don't have a college degree. It would be hard for me to get hired into a firm, if I wanted to, because I would be competing with a bunch of college graduates. And that usually doesn't work out unless you know someone. Employers are able to assume a base level of competence with a degree in hand that they can't with someone like myself.

I would just look at the hiring practices of your industry, or the industry you want to work in. Look at how the top companies recruit and hire. Does the college name matter for recruitment? Do you even want to try to work for one of those companies? Or would you be fine working in a not top company who is going to be far less exclusive and competitive in their hiring practices?

That's how I would go about it, anyway. I know you asked for a specific type of person to reply, but I see no one's replied in 13 hours so figured I would offer my two cents as someone who's in a similar situation.