> The ones deeply interested in the subject would likely skip college anyway if not for future economic prospects.

There exist a lot of things that are much "easier" or even (currently) only possible to learn by attending a university because, for example,

- for the access to various devices and experts,

- you walk a much more "established" and "time-tested" hike for getting good in the subject,

etc.

>The ones deeply interested in the subject would likely skip college anyway

Spoken like a true software engineer ;), there are jobs where you have to have a degree to get the job. "Real" engineers with sign-off responsibilities, Medical Doctors, etc.

Then you either really haven't tried very hard to notice them or have been in an academic environment with severe defects.

Does college even work for future economic prospects, by the way?

> Then you either really haven't tried very hard to notice them or have been in an academic environment with severe defects.

Sure. (?)

> Does college even work for future economic prospects, by the way?

Where I live, a college degree is a legal requirement for a lot of professions that pay more than entry level jobs (although not all of them). So, people go to college to get a better paying job in a few years than they could get by immediately entering the workforce.