Is it better to have a university degree for a career in technical communication?

I think people who have spent time working as a full-time technical writer will demand a lot more from an academic program than a student who transitions up from within an existing BA program.
The reason is, full-time experience in the corporate world prompts you to compare the business value of the education, not just how it affects you financially in the job market, but how the information will make you a better technical writer in your department.
If it doesn’t have a direct correlation, I think most experienced writers would dismiss its value fairly quickly.