But having said all that if they (the hirer) want the fancy bit of paper & ya wanna be a pilot ya have no choice but to do it:-)
I haven't seen any airlines asking for a degree, only particular high school subjects, and these are much more likely to be overlooked than minimum flying experience.
I would hazard to guess that the educational requirements are there so there can be some confidence you can pass your atpl exams, if they are not a requirement themselves. Maybe having done them could snag you an exemption.