[ExSES]

I fully agree! The vast majority of career paths do not require a formal college education! Today, however, even Masters Degrees are becoming so numerous that they convey limited value! My Great-Grandmother only went through the Eighth Grade, yet she taught school for 40 years and read the classics in Greek and Latin, while being fluent in 5 languages! One can easily learn without time spent in "Formal Education"!

In case you are wondering..., she was "Grandfathered In" as a teacher when degrees became required and was regarded as the "Go To" teacher for advice by her peers!

[PastorBooks]

Absolutely fantastic post! Thank you.

[Rurudyne]

Unfourtunately, professions like law have the ability to break society even more the more of them there are, leading to more of them being employable, therefore breaking society more ... lather, never rinse, repeat.

[poconopundit]

Especially in a field like computer science, you're better just studying the principles on-line and learning by writing code on your own.  Helping small businesses solve simple problems.

In a pinch, you can always befriend a knowledgeable pro and they may be happy to tutor you for small bucks -- or for free.  I joined an active on-line forum and people would encourage me and give me hints on ways to improve my coding.

I learned object oriented programming in this way. And there's not much in the way of PC programs I can't develop.

And I found an $80 course on-line that got me started.

An alternative to college are these "sanctuaries for entrepreneurs" starting to spring up in cities. Working with other people around fulfills the social side of college -- as you're making money.