[This meant that by the time my peers graduated from college, I had 6 years of experience under my belt.]
Invalid assumption, since during my undergrad and graduate years I was exposed/worked on large systems (Vax), administered the math dept systems, tutored statistics/calculus, etc. If I add in the wonderful people I met, studied with or learned from during those college years (something that is hard to find in the common workplace btw), those years are far more valuable that 6 years in the workplace.
Experience isn't just putting down years at task X, it is what you gained and the effort you put forth.
That depends very much on where you work. There are plenty of opportunities to grow in some of the larger institutions. I ended up working for a bank and I learned lots of stuff that came in very handy in my later career. Contrast that to my buddies who took the university path and all got stuck in middle level management or very boring code maintenance.
A CS degree is not a free pass to a well paying and interesting job.
College can also be a valuable experience, but you're incredibly presumptuous about working experience as "years at task X" and the value of my experience relative to your education.
A degree program provides the opportunity to learn, but no guarantee that you have. Real-world experience provides a measurable demonstration of your abilities. Both are valuable, but for different reasons.
However, some people have to live with the systems (err nightmares) that were built by people gaining "real-world experience". Just a little bit of focused education can do wonders (esp if you mix in a little passion).
Bad code comes from bad and/or inexperienced programmers, which in my experience seems to have very little correlation with level of education, and quite a bit more to do with a lack of "real-world experience".
Invalid assumption, since during my undergrad and graduate years I was exposed/worked on large systems (Vax), administered the math dept systems, tutored statistics/calculus, etc. If I add in the wonderful people I met, studied with or learned from during those college years (something that is hard to find in the common workplace btw), those years are far more valuable that 6 years in the workplace.
Experience isn't just putting down years at task X, it is what you gained and the effort you put forth.