Perplexed:

I believe you are wrong about law - at least in many states in the US.

I stand corrected, then. (And I'm happy to see another example of historical vestiges that still have some life in them!) I was going by the Canadian regulations, which allow no such thing.

Of course, even in the U.S. it's nowadays a rare thing, and as you say, it's not a realistic path towards high status in the profession. Whereas in the computer industry, both Microsoft and Apple were founded by college dropouts (and the latter is still headed by one).