What&#x27;s important is that the skillset exists, not that a university has been given a considerable sum of money to provide certification that it exists. University was <i>not</i> the normal way to establish credibility until very recently. University is too expensive to sustain in its current form -- the whole thing has to be reworked to be affordable.<p>So don&#x27;t ask yourself &quot;What degree does this guy have?&quot;, but &quot;How much physics research has this guy done? Can I see his body of work? Is it high-quality stuff?&quot; The latter is performed anytime a competent person performs a hire anyway. It&#x27;s fine to skip&#x2F;ignore the education when someone can demonstrate competence. The problem really comes in &quot;soft&quot; degrees like business, marketing, communications, etc., where it&#x27;s not really possible for a body of work to be presented as evidence that the individual knows what he&#x2F;she is doing.