semi-O.T.--help!

[dlantz-at-armorholdings.com]

hello all at NIST.  I have been mostly lurking here for over six months now,
and would like to pose a semi-off-topic question.  I am seriously thinking
of going back to school and putting some time in on EMC and linux... now,
here are my current skills:
several years of linux, a SMALL touch of C, mechanical designing, drafting,
CAM (not as much as i'd like, but enough to get me into REAL trouble), some
novell and microsoft networking stuff... (no, point THEN click....) and the
core classes for mechanical engineering (although rusty)
now my question:
i see two fields that may lead me in the right direction:
computer science
computer engineering

the 'path-o-least-resistance' appears to me to be the computer engineering,
due to my engineering background, and perhaps i could learn the linux and c
on the side (thats what i've done up till now) BUT are there things in
computer science that i couldn't learn without the degree?  anyone have any
good advice for me?
this list has shown a massive knowledgebase----thanks---David Lantz