The doc "Ivory Tower" really got me interested in alternatives to traditional higher education, i.e. the kind that will get you the same income without $100000000000000000000000000000 in debt compounding at a rate of 100% daily. Fuck colleges man, honestly.
I was "in school" until I was almost 30 and got out without any debt. College undergraduate programs are basically theft that is used to pay for people like me and for massive administrative salaries. It's absolutely a scam.
And yet, big schools, the kind that can afford to really not give a shit about individual students, are some of the only places where true independent research is being done. Cutting edge research generally only happens for profit, for the military, or at universities. Federal grants help pay for it, but another big source of cash is comes from absolutely fucking over 18 year old kids who think they don't have a choice.
I don't know what my point is exactly. Just wanted to give you some insider perspective.