I would not call an education or a degree a waist of time or money.
In this trade to get anywhere sooner or later a person is going to have to put a good effort into learning theory and the code. There are people that worked 5-10 years or more and have put little effort in improving their knowledge. These are the same people that call themselves journeymen but can't get their license. They are the ones that ask dumb questions like how many wire nuts does the code allow in this box. Sometimes they are also the ones that mock the people taking classes and say everything is learned on the job site.
If an electrician is what you want to be I would say your best bet is to chose what you want to specialize in. Off the top of my head you have new construction, remodeling, tenant improvements, service calls, industrial, and maintenance. Some of those could be divided into residential or commercial. Each area has it's good and bad aspects, some pay better, some have more work, some are easier to learn, others have little demand. Perhaps a topic for another discussion. You have to ask yourself who you want to work for. A union, non-union, yourself, or non electrical company. Also it can make a big difference in the area you plan on working as far as requirements to be an apprentice, journeyman, master, or owner. This forum is a good place to inquire about this.
Degrees don't mean much to contractors but if you want to work for non contracting companies such as a hotel, factory, hospital, etc. they sometimes require a formal education or degree.
As said the union has a good program. Depending on your area it can be a long wait and very difficult to get in good economic times and ever harder now there is less demand. Joining the apprenticeship can be a long process. If that's your thought talk to your local. They sometimes have requirements such as completing a curtain level of math. Some need to take additional math classes at a community college just to qualify. Also go to the Union Topics here to learn more and read about people trying to get in. IMO a person could be almost done with an associates degree at WTI in the time it takes to go thru the union application process, with no guarantee you'll get accepted.
For the waist of money it's hard to say. I would bet a person that has a good grasp of theory, code, tools, & materials could get more money after a short time compared to someone that only knows how to use a shovel. Kinda depends the type of work given. To use a trained person to do only manual labor is a waist of resources IMO.