Next timd you go to a doctor, think how stupid that statement is
Not in every case, however.
There are a lot of trades that still require one to serve an apprenticeship.
I started as toolmaker's apprentice. I spent the entire first few weeks of my apprenticeship filing a steel block to within ~ .015" of squareness, perpendicularity and parallelism. Only then was I deemed fit to even approach a machine.
It took me four years to earn my Journeyman's papers. Once that happened, I was finally considered worthy to build jigs, fixtures and dies without supervision and having my balls broken by any toolmaker in the shop that felt the need to be entertained.
Throughout my apprenticeship, I went to school, two nights per week for a few hours, in addition to the 40 plus hours I was working every week. As my education and practical experience increased, so did my wages. It only seemed logical.
I am fully of the opinion that a college education alone is enough to make one adept at one's craft. I have seen plenty of ideas scribbled onto cocktail napkins from freshly minted engineers that simply would not work as conceived without the experience and knowledge of one of the older guys in the shop to bring to idea to fruition.