I did not say self taught is better than training. Universities offer little in the way of training. Many are teaching skills or methods obsolete in the field and employers have to supplement knowledge. I intend my kids to test out of high school around 16, and begin local community college courses while working/interning. Many paths open up from there that can bypass further wasted time on academia.

Some fields REQUIRE 8 years of academic education but most do not.

I'm just saying a wall of college degrees is more often than not only a status symbol of hundreds of thousands of dollars spent with nowhere near that value of knowledge in return.