> In fact the four-year degree you'll get from school is getting increasingly distant from the skills I actually want out of a new grad

Those skills are easily taught. But in every run of the mill project I’ve been on, I’ve been really happy about all the maths and other science stuff I’ve been taught at college. It’s easier to grasp the web DOM, React, and git when you already know about trees and the related algorithms. Easier to learn SQL after opening some books on relational theory (basically the first chapter on database theory) and learning about projections. And definitely easier to learn the nature of distributed systems.

Learning how to use Bash and Ansible is a walk in the park after that.

There's a big difference between understanding the underlying concepts vs being proficient with a tool.