BSEE from San Jose State, 1966.
I agree with Optikon. In fact, I'm not sure design can be taught. When I was in school, I learned analysis. I think design is learned in the school of Hard Knocks.
The only thing I learned in school was ohm's law, and it had just recently made it through Congress. :lol:
I'll guarantee that a self-taught "engineer" will have huge holes in his/her understanding of electronics. You can probably find a niche where you can perform, but a lot of the really theoretical stuff will be a fog that you will always wonder about if you encounter it, because it is extremely hard to learn on your own. This is especially true of analog stuff, and it is becoming ever more important to understand analog if you are doing digital design.