I mainly work with engineers when it comes to degreed people. IMO, you look at the well known institutions and good GPA's. And that is just to thin things out for interviews. If you can make it through a major engineering institution with a good degree and good GPA, you probably are not stupid.
That said, our company puts engineers in jobs that don't need that degree and generally has trouble dealing with non-degreed professionals who are not in a management track. We have two controls engineers who are very good, but have no degree.
IMO, A generic degree in an unnamed field of study is worthless except for whatever personal worth it has to you. If you want a college degree to mean something, you need to focus on a field of study in demand and excel at it. Breezing through with a C average is not a recipe for success.
As for that girl, a degree from an Art Institute is not going to be worth much by itself. However, if she doesn't mind blue collar workers and engineering offices and doing sales, there are lots of valve, filter, and parts companies that hire "looker" sales ladies down this way. They may not like the companies products, but they will let her come in and deliver a sales pitch. Many I have had contact with are actually pretty sharp.