For a long time, there were really only two paths for someone who wanted to eventually build software. Four years of school, real debt, and a degree, or years of self-teaching before anyone would take the skill seriously. Both were legitimate, and both were long.

There's a third door now that didn't exist before, and it doesn't require replacing the first two. Describing an app idea in plain English gets a real, working version back the same day, no computer science background required at all. That doesn't make a degree worthless. It means the specific skill of turning an idea into working software stopped requiring years of tuition to attempt.

This matters most for someone weighing debt against opportunity right now. A four-year commitment and a loan is a real, serious decision. An afternoon spent testing whether an idea actually works is a completely different kind of commitment, with a completely different kind of risk.

Nobody has to choose one path forever. But knowing the second one exists, and costs an afternoon instead of four years, is worth knowing before assuming college is the only way toward the kind of future you're actually after.