I don't quite agree, although I won't completely disagree yet either. Learning a valuable skill like programming will make you employable and may even have a better ROI than college[1], but going through a "developer crash course"-style program is akin to a trade school or apprenticeship. You might say that going to a trade school to learn to weld is a better investment than college, using the same metric.
College should not be considered a place where you go to get a better job. It used to be that way, but some major problems like grade inflation and the simple fact that a greater percentage of the just-graduated-highschool population is going in to college means that a degree doesn't distinguish you as much as it used to. But there are still major benefits, including lifelong friendships, intellectual stimulation, and learning tertiary skills that are required to be a "well-rounded" person".
[1] Back-of-envelope calculation: $100,000 tuition for an average $1,000,000 increased lifetime earning means that college ROI is about 10x not counting the time-value of money. $10,000 dev school plus personal investment for (let's say) a $40k/yr salary increase over a 25 year career is also $1,000,000, for an ROI of 100x.
College should not be considered a place where you go to get a better job. It used to be that way, but some major problems like grade inflation and the simple fact that a greater percentage of the just-graduated-highschool population is going in to college means that a degree doesn't distinguish you as much as it used to. But there are still major benefits, including lifelong friendships, intellectual stimulation, and learning tertiary skills that are required to be a "well-rounded" person".
[1] Back-of-envelope calculation: $100,000 tuition for an average $1,000,000 increased lifetime earning means that college ROI is about 10x not counting the time-value of money. $10,000 dev school plus personal investment for (let's say) a $40k/yr salary increase over a 25 year career is also $1,000,000, for an ROI of 100x.