No effectively about it. Residency and fellowships are apprentices. Poorly paid apprenticeships at that.
Don’t get me wrong, I certain don’t think all people can be all things. Not everyone can be a designer. And I also believe when starting out in life, getting a BS, BA or BFA is the easiest and best method to pursue a professional career of any type, of course including design.
But the OP is about is it possible to skip the BS, BA or BFA. And the answer undoubtedly is yes. Why that gets people’s hackles up is beyond me.
First case is you don’t have the means to attend college. That is a rare circumstance on these boards. It can be done. Start in a shop or lab and work your way up. Old school apprenticeship. I’ve got a guy in our lab right now with a high school diploma. He definitely has the potential to become more. I have 2 others who definitely do not.
But by far, the most common thread that is started is “I have a degree in ‘not design’ and I want to be a designer”. In that case, there are 2 avenues. First, get a masters because wasting a year in time and money covering prerequisite humanities for a second bachelors is asinine. The second is to use your degree to get a job adjunct to design and do both. Sure, it will be a lot of work. Hours will be long. But at least in the second case you are getting paid.
Will anyone on these boards claim they learned more in their 4 years of college than they did in the first year of their job? So why exactly is learning on the job worse than getting a BS, BA or BFA?