In my experience (which is substantial on this matter), you can approach education with the intention of learning and without much regard for later employment.

I seldom invested much energy in work that I wasn't interested in or that didn't lead to something I was interested in. My teachers and professors often found this irritating, but I wasn't there to please them, I was there to learn.

It's a frustrating route to take, but you can take it.

You're other idea is good, too, though. There's relatively little you can't teach yourself, if you're motivated. Some of the advanced mathematics I took would have been beyond me, if I were on my own, but most everything else would have been doable.