There are certainly a lot of jobs that don't really require a college education for a person of decent intellect, and some kinds of programming are some of them

There are certainly a lot of jobs that don't really require a college education for a person of decent intellect, and some kinds of programming are some of them, but I do think there are also careers that require a level of dedicated study that is really difficult for most people to accomplish outside of a structured learning environment like college and where it's difficult to quickly learn it on the job. FWIW, I didn't go to college. I've often tried to follow lesson plans for the fellows that have, but it can be hard to crack into certain markets without work experience or verified education in an area.