Maggie's Farm

One of the brightest fellows I know got his BS in Physics from a highly-prestigious university in three years without ever going to class, while playing drums in a touring rock band. Picked up the syllabi, and showed up for exams.

A lot brighter than me, and my GRE/SAT scores were pretty good.

Courtesy of on the job training from a startup that paid me corresponding wages for learning on the job, I acquired some expertise in databases- and my salary increases reflected this increase in expertise.

For several years I was finishing up a Master's degree while working on the databases. I learned more from my work than from the courses. Accordingly, I found my work experience more interesting than the courses I was taking concurrently. Perhaps that was the difference between getting paid for jumping through hoops versus paying for jumping through hoops.

Small businesses are good places for acquiring expertise, as one employee may be required to wear many hats that in a large company would be worn by several employees.