[bluecalm]

It's true but it's more of an evidence than graduating from college anyway.

(not to dismiss college education here but what you get there are good theoretical fundamentals not anywhere close to proficiency in programming or specific languages)

[thekingofspain]

I don't know whether you went to college/university or not, but my program definitely gives you both of those things, in addition to very good theoretical fundamentals. Not to say that you've got the necessary real-world experience after completing it, but you're well on your way.

[sbilstein]

Depends on your program. Schools vary widely in what they offer. Depending on the university, you could get a job in IT or a research lab and write code there.

Most engineers I know doing non trivial machine learning work got their start in university labs.