However, it's not strictly necessary. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Peter Jennings, Thomas Edison, and scores of others took the hard knocks route and did just fine. One could even make a case that the autodidact (one who is self-taught) brings different perspectives from the shrink-wrapped product churned out of most universities.
What's a far more valuable - and rare - commodity in my opinion, in addition to applied intelligence, is character.
I went to the world class U of Calif. at Berkeley for my chem engineering degree on the WWII GI bill. I had a very good experience there. However, I have long believed that after WWII the colleges and universities milked the GI Bill for all the money there was and not much intention for actual sustaining benefits for the populace of the US who bore the brunt of WWII costs during and after. Life after college demonstrated to me that although knowing fundamentals is a must for some purposes it is personal initiative and inherent intelligence that advances a society.