Then so was I when hired as well as a majority of the department I work in (which is Information Security btw, not hell desk). This is not at some Mom and Pop ISP either but a VERY large Government IT Contractor (Not EDS, but close! lol). In a little over 10 years in Information Security, I hardly ever see just a degree win out over experience and certifications for an analyst/engineer position. Now, if you aspire to management, this is a different story. Get all of the college you can!

I am in no way saying that college is worthless, however, don't be blinded into thinking a degree equals a job because it simply doesn't. My advice would be to get a degree. While working on it, get a job in the industry and work on getting certs. The combination of these things will make you a better applicant for a larger portion of positions and will give you a working idea of what the industry is like. College alone DOES NOT prepare you to work in the IT/IS fields and most hiring managers know this. With the IT job market like it almost always is, you will need all the help you can get.

By the way, the CISSP was more difficult than any ENTIRE semester of school that I have encountered and it required 5 years of experience before I could attempt it.

So, TL;DR: When in doubt, get a Degree, Certifications, and Experience. There is no magic bullet for the IT job market.

Well, in the job market in DC (differing job markets may have differing standards), it used to be (10 years ago or so) that having a working knowledge of computers was good enough. However, and especially in the last year or two, a degree is a necessity. Too many people graduating college with degrees, not enough jobs. An employer is going to give the available position to the one with the most education. Plus, a college education teaches you much more than your major, it gives you experiences a certificate program never will. It's far more marketable and in the current economy, you need to make yourself as marketable as possible.

A certificate in conjunction with your degree, that's just icing on the cake.

Good luck to you!

In the long run a degree will be a whole lot better then a certification. Due to the fact that a with a degree yeh will get broader spectrum of knowledge whereas a certification will cost yeh bunch plus its a basically a cram course in a narrowly defined area.