As an adult, I am able to supplement my professional pursuits with leisure interests outside my workplace. Most quality programs are nested in larger research communities of practice or incubator networks outside the university proper. I suspect university students share similar capabilities.
Again - part of the scope creep in the university offering re: cultural insularity. At some point, students cease to be “X school graduates”, and are just [insert profession], relying on the merits of their skills and experience. (And, dare I say it, initiative to seek out like minds in the larger community; less of a “what can I get” mentality than a “what can I contribute” one.)
And lest anyone protest that elite extracurriculars happen only at elite universities...no. In my direct circle are Olympic medalists in swimming and rowing, world ranked ultra marathoners and triathletes, professional hockey players, Olympic fencers, and World Cup sailing winners. None attended elite universities to make or maintain these connections - the seeds were planted long before. They chose the programs that best nurtured their intellectual interests, some elite, others not, subject to their developmental maturity and family circumstances at the time.
The older I get, the more firmly I believe that there is no one yardstick for success, or script for attaining any of its manifestations. At the end of the day, universities are universities, and country clubs are country clubs. There is a lot of value to be had by learning in depth at the appropriate phase in one’s development, and benefit to society of expanding access through online courses so that more people can achieve their full potential.
