Well, since software engineering is a field where the government is not able to settle the matter just by slapping the obligation to have a particular degree or certification just to be admitted to the job, employers are allowed to choose. If you have an aptitude for programming, you will be better off just programming for 4 years. Going to college and reading books about programming will turn out to be only marginally useful, and actually quite costly. Instead of learning, and making quite good money, you will be digging yourself into a debt hole, while you will still need to pick up the real skills afterwards, at the expense of an ever more skeptical employer.