I think the deeper point is the difference between a career and a job. Most companies have very short-term thinking and are looking to hire for the task at han

I think the deeper point is the difference between a career and a job. Most companies have very short-term thinking and are looking to hire for the task at hand (to be fair to them, it's not always good to over engineer or over invest). If you do get a job, the problem can be in 5-10 years when your company's needs change or you want to move up in your career. It may not apply equally to tech or could be a generational thing, but generally trade schools taught specific job skills while colleges taught concepts (and usually omitted a lot of the specific operational skills). I've heard my dad describe it as a familiarity with the wider discipline and the knowledge of where to go for a deeper understanding, when needed. A lot of the baby boomers I know went back to school later for their Masters or PhD because that was a limiting factor for their career advancement. Less and less often companies are investing long-term into employees. It's up to the individual. That being said, not everyone has to be a lead or a CEO. You can have a long and fulfilling career being a really good mechanic or code monkey. It's such a well earned stereotype to see people go into management and really miss the day-to-day coding work.