My degree was in Graphic Design, which I've done practically nothing with. Our program didn't even use computers at the time. Everything I've learned, I learned on my own time and volition.
Don't worry about programs not being standard. That evolves all the time. 3DS Max was the standard at one point, them Maya, Motion Builder, and now we seem to be moving more things like Blender, Houdini, etc. Unreal is working to integrate DCC tools directly into their engine.
The fundamentals amongst all of them are all pretty much the same under the hood. You're just working with Matrixes and Quaternions with a different front-end. And the foundations of animation, sculpting, drawing, painting, etc. are perpetual.