Almost anything can be learned on your own. Employers want some evidence that you have actually learned what they want you to know before hiring you. Currently, having a college education is often the best way to do this. Is it optimal? Probably not, but that doesn't mean it is worthless either. Going to college also doesn't prevent you from learning on your own. In fact, if you are doing that anyway then college should be relatively easy.
Universities, on average, may be very liberal but you won't necessarily see much of that if you are getting a technical degree. I didn't. The medical industry, like the education industry may not be optimal but that doesn't mean they are worthless.
At any rate, there are two separate arguments here. 1) Is a college degree the ideal way to train you for what you want to do and 2) Is a college degree a worthwhile investment in terms of employment opportunity. 1) Probably not but it can still be beneficial. 2) Depends on what you want to do and certainly not always but in very many cases, yes.
Well said. The only thing I would add is that while a college degree may be worthwhile in terms of immediate employment opportunity, every year college degrees are becoming inflated. I don't see this situation lasting more than 10-20 years without some "educational crisis", so alternatives need to be thought about.
Looking at tuition at the University I attended, it has slightly more than doubled since 1998. $1 in 1998 would be worth $1.50 today. So roughly speaking, tuition has about doubled inflation. This is bad but not as bad as some would suggest. I agree that it can't continue like that though. At any rate, tuition costs are at least in part a product of supply and demand. If the government stops subsidizing it, prices will go down. If fewer people pursue a college education, costs will go down. Personally, I think universities will adapt but I guess we will see.