One thing I always hated about university education is how it’s entirely designed nowadays as a sort of “coming of age experience” for teenagers coming out of high school.

I don’t have any higher education. I was stupid and arrogant and thought it would be a waste of time and money. However even if I did attend at 17/18, I almost certainly would have squandered it. I wouldn’t have been mature or aware enough to understand how and where to focus my time and energy in such a setting.

By about my mid-late 20s I felt like I had a better idea of what I could or could not get out of such an experience, but by that point I had a life and bills to pay and a job to attend to allow for any of that. There’s barely any time or money for education now. I’ve thought about trying to go back for the last decade, but it just becomes less realistic every year.

I think that gap you described of not ready but able vs ready but not able is exactly what the college experience is for. I also don’t think everyone needs to bridge that gap by going to college.

For me personally, I had a ton of fun squandering my college years taking a wide variety of classes that could have become a passion but ended up not. I would not have been able to do that outside of a structured environment that gave each subject a pass/fail opportunity in my life that cost only a semester.

College really isn't that hard or complex. All that's required is you attend classes, study, and pass tests. Where's this narrative coming from that one has to "be mature and aware enough to focus my time and energy in such a setting"? what setting? class? the same concept we've all participated in since kindergarten?

online school, commuting, and part time school are all valid options that result in a college degree.