I'd have thought the main advantage of doing the degree is that it opens up new avenues of enquiry. Rather than simply learning a tune, you have the time and tutors available (yes, they're there in the non-academic world too,but isn't it nice to have them readily accessible?) to help you hear it in lots of different ways and to understand more about how and why these different styles evolved. Then you can adapt your own way of playing if you want to ... if you don't want to, then I'm sure that's no problem either.

The churning out of a "house" style might be a concern, but you hear that same worry raised about jazz courses too. The truly exceptional players usually find their own ways of expression despite going through exactly the same training as the soundalikes.