I enjoyed my time in college, I even learned and experienced much that I still value. However, to be honest, most of the knowledge that I value has come outside of traditional education. Much of my most useful knowledge in physics, biology, astronomy, language, etc. has come from self-study, from reading old issues of National Geographic, Popular Science, Scientific American during high school and after, from reading text books and non-fiction books on my own. The most important contribution to my intellectual character has probably come from Carl Sagan's Cosmos, above any course or line of study in formal education.
That being said, there have been some substantial and crucial bits of knowledge I likely would not have acquired outside of school. Calculus and advanced mathematics, most especially the rigor of formal proofs that has proven immensely useful and practical to me and yet came of a degree course I chose essential by accident. And the experience of chemistry laboratory courses, using equipment that I would not have had access to outside of college, is something I would be sorry to have missed.
Overall, I'd say that college can still be a valuable experience but the increasing reliance on college as the sole route to education is troublesome and problematic.
That being said, there have been some substantial and crucial bits of knowledge I likely would not have acquired outside of school. Calculus and advanced mathematics, most especially the rigor of formal proofs that has proven immensely useful and practical to me and yet came of a degree course I chose essential by accident. And the experience of chemistry laboratory courses, using equipment that I would not have had access to outside of college, is something I would be sorry to have missed.
Overall, I'd say that college can still be a valuable experience but the increasing reliance on college as the sole route to education is troublesome and problematic.