Sorry Telstar, might have come across the wrong way......what i mean is that if you are up against a number of low hour pilots and all of you have similar flying experience then they will look for something else to differentiate you from the rest. ie a degree. This is when it may be very useful.
I have actually seen one advertisement somewhere specifying third level education (for an Asian carrier if i remember correctly), but yes it is a rarity alright. Perhaps we will see it requested more in the future as the pool of low hours pilots grows and Airlines struggle to differentiate between them???? Might not be a bad idea!
It would also have relevance in terms of applying to a cadet scheme, but talking about that in this thread would not be relevant.