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"Why study it when you can be doing it" is a mantra you hear often in the high tech world these days, especially in relation to dot.com startups. Many of the self-made millionaires (and billionaires) in the high tech world today either never went to college or dropped out in order to immediately pursue their dreams.

A good technical school provides an excellent return on investment as you pointed out. When I got out of the Marine Corps in the mid-1980s, I had sufficient money available to go to a traditional 4-year college. However, I chose a Technical School that was about 10 months of intense instruction in the very field I wanted to get into - computers.

Within 6 months, I had already landed a full-time job in the high tech industry and I had to switch to a night class in order to complete my Technical School certification. I've never looked back and I can honestly say I have a much higher income than most college grads that completed a traditional four-year "liberal arts" type program.

That's not to say that I do not value education. All my life, I continue to read several books a week, many of them non-fiction books. For example I devour books on history, management, and business. I've read just about every book written on Google, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Wal-Mart and even McDonalds. I love to read how entrepreneurs take an idea and either create a new industry or disrupt and re-invent an existing one.

This self-learning propelled me into the ranks of upper management and I am one of the only ones at my level without a formal college degree. But that is transparent to my peers because I don't go home at night want watch six hours of sitcoms. I read books or I come to forums like this where I hone my writing skills.

Autodidacticism is definitely a viable way to go, along with learning in the workplace. Again, why study it when you can be doing it? When I got my first real job in high tech, I learned more about it in 30 days then I did in all my previous schooling.

Now there are some professions, such as medicine or law, that would require years of formal education. However, if you are looking to make it in business or high tech, all you really need is a good trade/technical school and then get out there and start doing it!