We're not closing schools despite having libraries and the internet, having (good) teachers is useful to learn faster and get pushed further. There are some good programming schools that can make it more efficient for you. I think the main problem is rather the insane cost of higher education in the USA which create anxiety about being certain that you can repay it in the future it may open for you. It is sad.

I always wanted to believe this, but, at least in my country, not even a specialized high school degree is enough to get me anywhere for months, it's crazy.
Maybe you could even make it without formal education, but everyone's always looking for those sweet 3+ years of experience in the field (ಥ﹏ಥ)

It is really difficult to get a good job being self taught.

It's harder to break into but I make 150k and barely graduated high school. Software engineering is largely a field that doesn't care about degrees but about ability. It's harder these days to break into the field than it was 10 years ago when I did but it's absolutely still possible

I have a fine arts degree and I'm a lead dev 🤷‍♂️

Maybe not what you're asking but people with a non-CS M.Sc or PhD commonly switch to coding, especially in the data fields.

Anecdotally, I have an associates degree in horticulture and am currently the engineering lead for a team of six

I used to work at a small tech company (5-10 employees) and when we hired for entry level coders we’d receive hundreds of applications. Most of them would be grads from bootcamps, some with undergraduate degrees and some without. My boss would just throw out any that didn’t have a bs in something, but preferred a stem degree. He knew they didn’t need a degree, he knew you didn’t need actual coding experience, it was just a quick (maybe illegal) way to make that list of applications more manageable. Edit: as other people have said - after your first job you are basically “in” and are a very desirable candidate. Your education matters much less after your first job.

If you entered the field 10 years ago, sure. If you're trying to enter the field now, I have bad news...

I've never been to college and my job title today is Software Architect, I've been doing this for nearly 20 years.

It was extremely hard at first to get a job because everyone wanted a BA, but that was also 20 years ago. Once I had some experience and could clearly demonstrate my capabilities they were more open to hiring me. The thing a degree shows is that you have some level of experience and commitment, but the reality is a BA in CompSci doesn't actually prepare you for the reality of 99% of software development.

I think most companies these days have come to realize this. Unless you're trying to apply to one of the FANG corps (or whatever the acronym is now) you'll be just fine if you have a decent portfolio and can demonstrate an understanding of the fundamentals.