I disagree, it depends completely on which university, course etc you choose. Many universities and courses are mediocre and teach you very little. The art course I chose was bad, I learnt almost everything through self-directed studies and time in the library. I was extremely unprepared for a career in illustration when I left uni.

I’m guessing other university courses teach the skills and approach you mention — but how does a 17/18 year old know? There’s only so many top-tier university places to go around.

So the self-directed learning the author is advocating is a better approach to the current crap-shoot approach to picking a subject/course/uni and just hoping it all works out in the end, knowing that if it doesn’t work out you’ll be saddled with massive debt at the end.