I'd argue that knowing where to look up information is not worth a couple of hundred thousand $ and half a decade in a classroom.

As I mentioned, most of my comprehension was from learning about things on my own, not because someone in the faculty explained it to me. In fact, it was really difficult to get any kind of mentorship at these schools, given how all instructors were researchers who always seemed very unhappy having to teach courses.

college is definitely too expensive and few would pay that much money just for the info gained from coursework (any of the coursework...not just cs). it also seems counterproductive that society expects everybody to go to college.

unfortunately nowadays college is more about providing a network + campus recruiting opportunities + some qualification on a resume.