I think my advice to you would be go for it , I have been a Licensed Engineer for 25 years and havent regretted a minute of it . I have never been treated with with any bad respect if anything my experience is the opposite and when you get a few years experience under your belt the pay is not bad at all,for example an LAE with a couple of types and a few years experience will earn anything from 30k upwards in todays market,also if you do the Kingston degree and dont like hands on maintenance it will stand you in good stead for an office job,ie maintrol, tech records, planning ,that type of thing.
Also the chance of LAE,s being a thing of the past because of the A licence holder is just not going to happen,this is a certification privelige that used to be called Limited and simple and that is exactly what it still is. So if you can afford the time out to do the degree go for it ,and I wish you the best of luck for the future.