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Ummm. Weren't the academic degrees that you earned actually in Classical Languages?

Yes, but I've been working in IT for 20 years now.  That's actually part of where my thinking process came from.  NOT ONCE did a prospective employer ask me what my degree was in.  They cared about the fact that I had one, but then were more interested in my experience.  So the thought here would be to transition from other fields to computer science.  There's actually a company out there doing that, and having a lot of success, but they compress everything into a 15-week "boot camp".  Some of these concepts take much longer to really sink in and take root, so I don't agree with that approach.  But in a world of instant gratification, people like to believe that they'll become expert at something in 3 months, whereas it might take years ... if EVER, since some people don't quite have the aptitude for IT.

Comp Sci graduate after Comp Sci graduate has come through the various companies I've worked for, and one was less competent than the other.  It always took nearly 6 months before they could be even remotely useful.  After FOUR YEARS of a degree program.

I could cover all the subjects necessary to be an effective programmer in the real world in roughly 3 years, at a pace of 3 hours per week of actual instruction.  You don't need a FULL treatment, for instance, of networking ... just the basics that allow them to do the vast majority of development tasks.

In any case, I have degrees in Classics, but I've risen to the top of my field (short of those positons that would require MBAs and in which I would have little interest due to the fact that they're 90% meetings).

As I mentioned in another thread (the one where I announced my unemployment, being in my mid-40's)

A young guy with 5 years experience would be only 21 - 27 years old, and almost certainly unmarried with no kids. He would have almost no health issues. His brain would be optimal for learning new things, and quickly. And he wouldn't be "set in his ways" in an old paradigm that is now out-of-date. But with all those up-sides, he is also CHEAPER than the fortysomething with 20 years experience but only 5 of that is relevant.

Human beings lose their ability to change as they get older. The older they get, the harder it is to change, especially drastically.

I largely agree with that and, unfortunately, so do most employers.  Very few of them would even consider me given that I'm nearly 53 now.  So, if I got laid off, I'd pretty much be done.  I think I started to hit that wall around the age of 40 or 45, where it was more difficult to absorb newer paradigms.  I COULD, but it was always a lot more work and didn't come natural ... as it did when I was in my 20s and 30s.  Or perhaps it was because I cared less and wasn't nearly as enthusiastic.  I started out doing game programming when I was about 10 years old, but I never had a chance to actually do that as a career.

Some people should learn as they go and not get degrees in their field. It would benefit them immensely.

I agree.  In the good old days, apprenticeship was a thing, and a good thing.  You learn much more by doing than by actually looking at books or videos.  Unfortunately, there's a huge industry in "education".  Just as you'll never be a good carpenter just by reading a book, the same can be said of IT.  Comp Sci graduates are nearly always useless for the first 6 months after graduation, until they've been able to cut their teeth on some real projects.