As someone who dropped out of college to join a "startup," I can reliably say that I didn't have enough information at the time to make an informed decision about what I did or didn't need to know.

I'm happy with how my career has gone since then, but it would be absolute hubris to declare that it was due to my astounding foresight or careful assessment. I was a) motivated b) lucky and c) relatively free of responsibility.

Maybe I've had a more skewed career than most, but I've spent my career working with complex and busy systems. I never had a "freelance web developer" period. I've never just spat out web app after web app for clients. To take your specific example, I missed out on a chunk of algorithmic complexity in college (which I have since picked up) that sheds light on real world problems that might otherwise seem confusing or unconnected.

I understand your frustration, believe me, but be careful not to mix up the knowledge with the institution, or the message with the messenger, as it were.