This is a common thing to say because it's "cool" now but I don't think it's even a little bit true at all. The value of my University was almost entirely the education, I learned a massive amount and did crap tons of homework and projects (not just lectures and books). I was completely and entirely prepared for a good job in software development. I never even wrote "Hello World" before college.
I have a family member who signed up for an apprenticeship, but the waiting list was many years long. He was told that he could get higher on the list (or maybe skip the list entirely, can't recall exactly) by getting an associates degree. So he went to a community college to get the associates degree. Once he got the associates degree, however, he no longer needed the internship and went right into the workforce. I never asked him directly how much he makes, but I suspect it's more than I do because he's in a specialist field.
I have a family member who signed up for an apprenticeship, but the waiting list was many years long. He was told that he could get higher on the list (or maybe skip the list entirely, can't recall exactly) by getting an associates degree. So he went to a community college to get the associates degree. Once he got the associates degree, however, he no longer needed the internship and went right into the workforce. I never asked him directly how much he makes, but I suspect it's more than I do because he's in a specialist field.