I went to Brooks Institute of Photography a decade ago... Photography schools will give you exposure, it will give you a place to cut your teeth, it will teach you how to succeed... It will give you honest critiques you may not get from clients, friends, and acquaintances... And for SOME people, they need instruction, they need to know the difference between a split lighting, loop, Rembrandt, butterfly/hollywood lighting... broad vs short, softbox vs umbrella vs reflector... With photography, there are so many ways to do the same thing and so many different tools to get there... Yes, you can always learn online from places like creativelive. Yes, you can always get a mentor, if you can find an honest mentor, and slowly work your way up... Yes, you can do it for cheap and eventually get to the same place... Will you get the same experience? maybe... maybe not.. Will you get the experience not only with SLR's/DSLR's, but medium format, large format, scanning backs, 3 shots systems... will you get get access to cutting edge equipment and systems... Going to school forces you to know how to shoot multiple camera systems, lenses, models, lighting, locations... just assisting for a photographer or learning from a photographer or online CAN isolate you to a camera system, or a lighting condition or set up... To the instructor, mentors, photographers style but also habits, good or bad...
I have grown immensely since I left school and have evolved and moved with the times as equipment changes and technology changes... Could I have gotten to where I am without school... maybe... Can i have learned from others for a fraction of a cost... maybe... Would i have the experience and knowledge of my exposure tables and be able to shoot anywhere anyplace any condition... maybe... There's a lot of maybes... not a lot of certainties... Do you need a degree in photography to get a commercial job or a wedding client or two or three? Hell no... But you better know what the hell you are doing if you get those jobs or you will be in a world of trouble...