If you're planning on a career in create artwork for games, I can tell you that a degree is pretty low on the list of requirements. Having a strong portfolio and/or demo reel is of the utmost importance. Personality and experience are next and then education. You can go to the best art school on the planet but still produce squat for game art. A degree is just a piece of paper.

Going to school can be very beneficial, though. If you've had no formal art training in high school, then a post-secondary education can teach you the foundations of art and design. You learn how to talk about art, how to critique artwork, receive critique on your work, and develop as an artist. You can do this at a liberal arts university or at a dedicated art school. Either one works. It all depends on the type of education you're looking for and/or how much money you can spend. In general, art schools are more expensive.

Another benefit of going to school is establishing a network of contacts that can be useful after you graduate. You can do that independently, but the social environment of a school and the classroom can make meeting people a lot easier. Also, you have access to the instructors and professors at the school. They have their own contacts and resources, and they often share them with their students.

When looking for a school to attend, don't worry about whether or not it teaches Maya. Maya is just another tool, and you can learn it on your own if you're motivated enough. Rather, look for a school that offers you a solid education in art and design. If they happen to teach Maya, great. If not, don't worry about it. You don't spend $10k+ year on learning Maya. You might as well buy a new computer and Maya Unlimited with that money and learn it on your own.

In regards to learning about game development, many game studios take on interns or job shadows on a regular basis. If you contact the studios, they can give you an answer. Some schools have partnerships set up with local game studios and routine have internships or job shadows go through them.

When I worked for Dynamix (a division of Sierra Online), I worked with several interns from the local university as well as job shadows from various high schools throughout the region. All of those students contacted the company on their own to inquire about these opportunities. At the moment, I am supervising 7 interns from the university with my current company. Since I also teach at the university, I set up the internship on my own.

Another good way to gain some game development experience is to work with indie game developers. There are a lot of teams out there that need volunteer artists. It's not exactly glamourous work, but it is good experience. You can find some more information on indie game development here:

https://www.garagegames.com
https://www.gamedev.net/

I've covered a lot here, but there is obviously more to this. I'm just too lazy to type it all out right now. I hope this is a start to answering some of your questions.