This may well be true, and that is pretty unfortunate.
But, frankly, if all you want a job developing software, I'd suggest interning instead of getting a degree. You'll certainly be more qualified than your peers for most jobs four years on.
And, for what it's worth, I'm currently hiring for a Jr Developer. I want someone smart who we can train. A CS degree wouldn't hurt, but it's certainly not a prerequisite.
I don't have a CS degree (or any degree for that matter) and have been programming professionally for 3.5-4 years, 13 total. I never interned, but I spent a lot of time as a child/HS student writing code independently and working for a few open source projects. That got my foot in the door but until recently, it was rough finding work.
Any (career?) suggestions in general? I have a strong background in CS (I made prodigious use of ocw.mit.edu), and I feel competent at a practical level.
At this point, I'm just trying to pick a particular language to master while learning something esoteric on the side.
But, frankly, if all you want a job developing software, I'd suggest interning instead of getting a degree. You'll certainly be more qualified than your peers for most jobs four years on.
And, for what it's worth, I'm currently hiring for a Jr Developer. I want someone smart who we can train. A CS degree wouldn't hurt, but it's certainly not a prerequisite.