I don't think a degree is needed to make a sitcom or to write a song. I still believe college is pushed way too much especially for things you don't need a degree for. Do you really need to go to school for 4-years to paint a picture? Do you really need to go to school to write a novel? Even going to school for business is iffy to me. A lot of people have been successful and have not gone to college or have dropped out. College has just become way too expensive compared to what you actually get from it. All of what you're saying is true, but people really romanticize not needing college to do arts careers. The fact is that most of the people doing this stuff on the big stage went through strenuous educational training. It's extremely hard to break in to entertainment without that training, just because of the networking capabilities of those schools. I have family in acting in SoCal and music in Nashville, and they all went to big time music/entertainment colleges. Bruno Mars doesn't need college, but the team of 500 people packaging his brand usually do. Other careers won't even bother talking to somebody who didn't go to portfolio/theater school. People do succeed without that pedigree, but it is enormously helpful if you can get it. They do provide training, but really the value is in the network. The costs are high and college is pushed way too hard, but there is still a huge value if you can make it work. And really, the debt someone accumulates getting a decent state degree is sometimes the cost of a car. Over a lifetime, it still usually isn't significant enough that not going is better - for most.