University degree is almost a free adventure if you have no practical skills to show for it, so it is important that within your study period you try attaching yourself to companies to gain practical knowledge, even if you would have to offer your services voluntarily or even pay to get attached.
Apart from medical personnel who they instigate practicality in their schooling activities, the rest are arguably on their own and left to find a life after graduation with employers seeking 3+ years of experience from fresh graduates.
Tyr getting practical knowledge during school days or at least immediately after school you can enroll yourself in practical environments to get specialized skills that can earn you a living and enhance your employability.
Youth is wasted on the young. That saying is great, even if you do not "go" to a college, working on a skill for 4 years could make you so much better at it. Imagine spending 8 hours a day, for 4 years, almost everyday. That is what college can provide, and with mentors as well, so you would have someone to answer your questions if you are stuck somewhere. Let's take coding for example, one of the most known jobs in the world, if you could work 8 hours a day and only on the weekdays, for about just 30 weeks of a year, that would mean 1200 hours.
And if you do that for 4 years, that would be 4800, half of what you need for that famous 10k mastering. Plus, you have mentors (professors at college) you can ask and learn and get better. So yeah, the idea isn't to study, the idea is to master a skill, so at just 22 or 23 years old, you are already half way into being a master on a subject. Do that 4 more years, and at 26-27 you are a master of a skill. Rest is just to monetize that skill.