A recruiter who codes: I hate it

About a year ago I began coding on my own, self-taught out of curiosity of what I was looking at. I had started a blog just like the rest of the world and accidentally hit a combination on my keyboard that brought up the developer tools. I utilized Google and began to realize I could use this tool to change everything on my blog that I hated, literally becoming addicted to learning, changing and designing the look of my blog. Needless to say, my blog went nowhere because I was so consumed in the design of it!
Recently I started taking courses online, through SoloLearn, Flatiron, and mobile apps that have helped me further understand what it is I am doing. As a recruiter, we look for candidates who have obtained a masters in Computer Science or Software Engineering. I come across thousands of candidates who would be a perfect match for a client but cannot be submitted because of no degree/masters. This kills me because I have to admit, I have learned far more learning on my own than I have in the courses.
Now, I am sure going to a college and paying for education has in-depth learning, however, some of us do not have the ability to pay for our education. As a mother of 5, a wife and having a full-time job, there's no way I could add more debt on top of what I already have. So why is the recruiter and client world so against those who are self-taught? Are there companies who do not care about where your experience has come from, who would be more impressed by your GitHub, GitLab, portfolio, etc? I came into this tech world because of my genuine love and un-boxed freedom of creativity and got into recruiting to learn the different paths, meet different designers/engineers, and help others find their direction. At the same time...I am becoming frustrated with companies who only want to see you have gone through an on-site structured class that thousands of others have done, as opposed to the few who have devoted even more time learning it on their own...