The best arguments that I've seen seem to either be:
Get a college degree, because a college degree is required, so you should get a degree.
If you had a college degree, you'd know what makes having a degree different
Going to college shows that you can follow the rules
Going to college is statistically proven to result in better employees.
With the exception of #3, I think that those are all pretty legitimate arguments.
The thing is, I've examined the units that remain in my "college education", and I've come to the conclusion that not a single one of them effects any net change to my level of knowledge, ability to finish things, intangibles, etc.
You may not have any added knowledge from taking the remaining units, but you don't think that finishing your degree would at least demonstrate your ability to complete what you've started?
The only significant difference that I can see between myself now and myself at the end of my education (Which I'll finish just because it's there...) is that I'll be out many tens of thousands of dollars that I could have invested, used to buy an airplane, used to fly, or any number of other things.
See above...you'll also have a demonstrated ability to set a goal and accomplish it. You may well have that from other areas of your life as well, but finishing up will certainly add to it.
My observations indicate that there's an awful lot of confirmation bias amongst college grads.
Confirmation bias? Certainly possible. But I think there's an similar level of irrational denial of the benefits of higher education amongst those who didn't go.
The point that I'm trying to make here, to sum it up, is that you must give me a better reason for getting a degree than "the job requires a degree." We're talking about a massive capital expenditure here, and years of busywork ... tautology does not pass due diligence. (I could probably sum up my entire comment in that one line)
If the job you want requires a degree, I fail to see how that isn't a completely legitimate reason. If you're happy with where you are without one, then of course you don't need one.
I'm not wholly sure I'd want to work for a company where my contributions were valued only as a cog...
That's certainly your prerogative; I wouldn't want to work for someone I believed arbitrarily selected employees.
You know what else works as a sieve?
Hiring only people whose last names begin with A, F, J, N, R, S, T, and Z.
That's a ridiculous comparison. Are you actually comparing the predictive qualities of a 4-year degree to arbitrary alphabet-based selection?
We all make choices, and it's up to the individual to determine what's best for them. I bypassed upgrades at my airline to maintain my quality of life, but now I have no turbine PIC. There were definitely a [very few] number of captains that I flew with who I'm pretty sure would be less effective crew members at a major than me, but I'm not going to complain that entry requirements are unfair or arbitrary. They made their choices, I made mine, and I'm going to live with it.