The thing is that inflation is outpacing these numbers. With official inflation numbers hovering around 3% and real inflation (except in housing) being much stronger than that, Actual earnings haven't increased for the majority of the workforce in roughly 15 years.

I'd hardly call a 4.5% increase a surge either. Removing the cut for inflation puts this more at 1.5% at best, hardly an increase worth mentioning.

I think Ars Technica is just trying to drum up interest.

I'm an entrepreneurship major at a business school, and starting to work for a web-based startup. I can confidently say that i'm a on par with or better than many hackers who graduate from various comp-science universities.

Having a degree didn't get me my job, knowing people who recognized my skills did.

Thats always the way. Degrees can hold doors open for you, for a while, but not much else. I would expect its more the contacts you make etc.