Gavra, R’ Moshe was fighting a different battle; I believe he was talking about the purpose of your life – if you are becoming a Doctor, that is your mode of self-expression.
Today in frum land you need 150k (in NYC) to make ends meet with a healthy size family – tuition, chasunas. Certainly R’ Moshe wasn’t referring to that. And often, the only way to do that is with a degree, etc.
I think R’ Moshe meant Academia & YU, in that your career is the point of your life. Not Yeshivish guy who’s financial ambition is pay full tuition and maybe keep a son-in-law in Kollel for a few years – so he does whatever he can to do so. I think R’ Moshe certainly would have agreed he was a Ben torah. Either that, or R’ Moshe is reserving the term for full-time learners and kley kodesh.