Although the popular trend is against a formal higher education I would strongly advice you to pursue your decision/wish to get a degree. Yes, perhaps you could obtain the same level of knowledge and understanding throug the studies of your own, but I found that getting formal education gives a lot more - not only you learn the subject, but you also get to understand the methods of obtaining the knowledge. And this experience, at least for me, was far more important. Can you do this on your own? Perhaps, but I doubt it.