As someone with a STEM degree who enjoyed taking online classes at a CC during their 20s in Art History, I wouldn't call it a waste of time; it's brought me more joy, balance, and a feeling of well-roundedness than I had contributing to os projects.
I've always wondered - is there a way that we can decouple liberal education from technical skill building in the US university system? Because I absolutely agree that people crave and need the joy and balance that you describe, but currently its being held hostage to the price of at least 10k a year! Its so sad, I would kill for affordable, offline liberal education. The instructor doesn't even need to be elite (in fact I would prefer that she/he were not!), they just need to have a cool format.
True, I believe it does lead to a well rounded individual to study the arts and humanities, but with the cost of a college degree, the ROI on those courses ($900 per course) is not worth the investment.
applied STEM will pay off for the investment. I still take college courses online after my Masters in CS. I really enjoy learning about humanities and arts at a cheaper CC during my free time.
In all seriousness, I agree with you. However, I think some degrees are borderline "hobby-tier" - They're cool, but not very useful outside of personal enjoyment.
