Honest question not trying to be smart a**.

Almost all jobs in that sector (and many others) require a 4 year degree to get promoted. That's the other side of college coin - businesses expect you to have a degree and play a big role in the reason behind why so many kids feel like they have to have one.

My wife is a great example. She is in IT, had the knowledge, was doing the job, and came from the world we she took classes on her own to get any additional knowledge she needed.

Company (large employer) told her six years ago she could not be promoted any more because she did not have B.S. degree. She did one of the online universities to get a BS in communications - nothing to do with IT but quickest time frame to get to B.S. (about 15 months). She still reports to CIO but has been promoted twice since and is inline for a third promotion this year. The degree is effectively just a piece of paper (not that it wasn't a lot of work to get or a great accomplishment - just nothing to do with her job).

The point is somewhere along the line these students are going to have to get a B.S. or be stuck. Most companies have bought into the 4 year degree bandwagon which is a big reason why kids go to college rather than just doing something like this offering.

I'm not advocating the 4 year degree, just wondering how businesses are going to treat these individuals. That being said, it seems like a weird place to start for this type of degree/immersion. Most of these jobs pay pretty well over the first 5 years so you can probably do an ROI and come out on top vs. the kid who goes to a university for $40K a year to become a teacher making $32K (one of my friend's kid).