If I were a business owner, I wouldn't hire someone of a certain age group if I had even the slightest idea that they "deserved" a university degree.

Why would that be a criteria and even the only one? Isn't that prejudging something you haven't even experienced yet? If you were running a business, who exactly would you be looking for? Who would fit into your business and what would you look for in a co-worker? What would they need to be experienced in and what exactly would they need to know?

Isn't the question of a degree not meaningless, in the same way it's meaningless what skin color someone has, if male or female, if academic or non academic? What does count for you? With whom would you love to work together? Are these questions even answerable if you are not in the position right here and now running indeed a real business? But ..., for the sake of imagination, what would be your answers?