Anyone gone? I know a couple people at Laika and it seemed to pay off for them, but is this more the feeling that most students have? I was talking to someone who dropped out of the AI, who told me that phone sex is less expensive than tuition, with professors who really don't give a shit about you.
I did a three year community college animation course about a decade ago. The instructors were actually surprisingly dedicated. They genuinely gave a damn about us doing well and getting jobs out of the whole deal, which meant they were hard asses who expected assignments to be done well and on time and people to show up to class, so most of the students hated them for being "mean".
I ended up working as a graphic/UI artist for many years before realizing I wanted to program and waste my money furthering my education, so it sort of worked out for me.