Reading between the lines in TFA, it seems that they're implying that university learning is really bad, and pretty much any other way you can use to learn the subject matter before getting to university will serve you better. There's a long discussion to be had there, but for the sake of argument, let's take that as a given.
Assuming that is true, but that there is still a significant benefit to attending a good university - in terms of connections, social experiences, status etc. - should we maybe strive to decouple the university experience from course enrolment - e.g. make it easier for people who have pre-learned the content, to prove their competency and essentially jump directly into a free-form experience similar to grad school?
While the thesis based freeform option is liable to lead to practically learned mastery, it is perilous. What you might set out to learn and to do might not pan put. You might have to revise your ideas, redesign your studies. You may very well take a lot longer than 4 years through no fault of your own.
It can also feel incredibly demoralizing to be toiling in those trenches. Feeling like you are qualified for the job but you just need to get these damn experiments to finally work so you can actually leave and no longer be impoverished.
Assuming that is true, but that there is still a significant benefit to attending a good university - in terms of connections, social experiences, status etc. - should we maybe strive to decouple the university experience from course enrolment - e.g. make it easier for people who have pre-learned the content, to prove their competency and essentially jump directly into a free-form experience similar to grad school?