“Is that it then? Is the entire purpose of learning then, of all of academia and the arts, just there to forge a path to whichever endless drudgery one will use to eke out a living?”
The people running the colleges often have other agendas, usaully antiTorah ones.
From a Torah perspective, I believe the only heter (in general) to attend college would be if one feels it is necessary for hishtadlus for parnassah.
Of course, once one is attending college, he can find other uses for his knowledge, since all knowledge can be used for Avodas Hashem. But I don’t think that one would be allowed to put himself in an environment in which he is exposed to kefira and pritzus and secular knowledge not being taught from a Torah perspective unless he felt it were necessary for parnassah purposes. This includes online courses as well.