Been thinking of going back to college (maths) myself in my post-40s age, but I'm struggling a bit to convince myself that it's going to be the best way to meet my learning goals. The degree itself, at this point in my career, isn't all that important to me, but the social and networking aspects could be quite valuable.

I'm curious if you've made similar considerations.

Definitely.

Even considering preparation for a graduate music program I had the option of taking fundamental music courses at nearby schools or studying with an independent teacher. Ultimately I chose to go independent. That let me start immediately and offered flexibility in my own daily schedule. The graduate program professors I spoke with gave no preference to undergrad vs just demonstrating knowledge.

Do you think a university music program is needed to learn composition, or are there enough info out there to piece it together yourself (pardon the pun)?

For reference, I am an employed self taught software engineer (learned from MOCs) and have played piano many years along with theory basics already.

I haven't found many great resources yet, at least not in one place.