Always smiled at the requirement for formal education requirements, we did our flight training with the USN which required either two years college, or perhaps a degree, I forget which, of its locals, yet we had a couple of 17 year olds straight out of high school who had no trouble coping, one of those going on to fly the North Sea with Bristow on S-61 for many, many years. On that basis, to the OP, go for it, they may well see the Man, rather than an inconsequential piece of paper. See some of the major US airlines have now dropped the college requirement also.