I don't have a degree. I feel that not having it has cost me some opportunities. Someone once said that when someone has put in years to get their degree they want the candidates they interview to have done that work as well.
I started in the 8-bit days. So learned BASIC. Then learned assembly language for the computers processor. Then next computer learn changes to the BASIC and the new processors assemble language. But after a point more languages became available on those computers and eventually I had to decide which was best for me to focus on. Now I try to what there is I could be learning about and decide how much about each I should learn about and how deeply. Starting now I don't know where I'd start.