This was true for me too. A big part they left out was that you would need to develop skills for the career you wanted - whether that happened in school or not. If your career interest is in computers, but your education interests are in medieval history, make sure you have some computer skills to offer future employers and let your degree put you at the top of the candidate pool.

But still yeah this whole process was screwed from the start. Everybody has degrees now and most careers use it as a barrier to entry rather than a leg up.