You can learn more today watching Youtube clips on how to do stuff than going to school. The critical thinking part which led me to that conclusion does however partly come from higher learning.
Critical thinking comes from experience, education, and the ability to think abstractly. That stuff was NEVER taught in schools. Public schools in the U.S. were designed to teach youth enough to work in a factory. College was for the top 15% or so.
Now there are no factory jobs. And colleges graduate students who spend all day texting, but who are incapable of communicating.