I call em DayCoders and thats all they are. Fair enough they do the work and make a living but I still find companies hiring them over people without a degree just because of that piece of paper. I think the HR departments need to get past the college education and look at the details. I will only employ people that I feel have a passion regardless of any degree.
This month I just finished my BS in CS. I set out to complete it over 11 years ago, in 1996. In 1997 I started working full time and have accrued over 10 years experience in qa, operations and sysadmin, software development, software engineering, management, and more. The CS classes I'd taken along the way each contributed to my abilities, but out of context I can certainly see how if I had waited to finish my degree to enter the work force, I'd have been at a serious disadvantage. Along the way, I never encountered a significant roadblock finding a job because I didn't have my degree - most employers never asked because I had enough experience after 2 years or so full time.