This point hit home hard.
I agree wholeheartedly. It's sad that someone with a stamp from a certification agency is worth more than someone with a compsci bachelor's. To me, a certification makes sense for some sort of highly specialized work (e.g. security) but for general system administration or programming, it's a poor excuse for a real education.students in the door. What concerns me is that "certification-mania" is starting to be seen as a substitution for an education, and that's just sad.