To just get started in RF you need to have a basic understanding of multivariate calculus, circuit analysis (including non-linear devices), systems and signals, electromagnetism, and semiconductor physics.

These are not topics you will just figure out on your own or "on the job".

I find it hard to see there being an alternative for the time being. I had access to tens of thousands of dollars of lab equipment during my EE degree. Probably worth the cost of tuition itself. Not to mention the commercial cost of simulation and cad software that we got for "free".

The other aspect is the professional engineering credentials. At least in Canada Engineering is a protected title. of which the easiest way to get your P.Eng is getting a degree through an accredited engineering program.

I have never seen an electrical engineer who managed to skip the university context let alone an RF electrical engineer. Zero. None.

There is a reason why so many people from engineering can switch to software while the converse almost never occurs.

In what way? RF test equipment is costly and so is building a home electronics lab.

> Do you really think that the university is going to be the bottleneck?

Yes. I think American society will struggle to produce enough competent electrical engineers outside of the university system.

> there's going to be some big reorganization to reflect the fact that you can now learn just as well OUTSIDE of a university context

In my experience, very few people like learning the math needed to be competent at RF. It’s hard and exhausting and without a human connection most people are going to bounce. This isn’t like software where if you get it 80% right something still occurs.

I’ve worked with homeschoolers too, and unless they’re the small fraction of people for whom math comes naturally, they’re not going to study it on their own. But that’s exactly the audience one has to reach to grow the EE supply.