It probably very much depends on the school and the courses you take but most will provide you with at least some foundational knowledge of computer science (e.

It probably very much depends on the school and the courses you take but most will provide you with at least some foundational knowledge of computer science (e.g. data structures, complexity theory, some linear algebra, software engineering), which is incredibly useful. You can certainly learn this all by yourself but that takes quite a bit of discipline. Moreover, having an actual teacher and peers to help you with your learning is an enormous benefit. That said, foundational computer science education can only ever be part of the equation. If you really want to excel in your field you have to learn on your own anyway. So ideally, it's a combination of both. As for the degree itself, that totally depends on what you're going to do in the future. What you learn is much more important than the degree itself. You can still drop out later if you feel you'd better continue on your own or your time (and money ...) might be put to better use in other ways.