"I didn't go to Harvard but the people that work for me did." - Elon Musk
Many of the great geniuses throughout history, such as Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla and Leonardo Da Vinci, were self-taught autodidacts. They were college dropouts. Rebels of their time. Non-conformists.
They rejected the formal education system and decided to educate themselves about the things that mattered to them. They realized formal schooling is more often than not a hindrance to one's intellectual and emotional development and ultimately breeds conformity rather than creativity.
One's inner genius can only be awoken under the right circumstances, and freedom of thought and expression -- traits that are deemed undesirable in school -- are paramount in triggering such an awakening. That is why the 'well-educated' are seldom labelled geniuses. Smart? Successful? Rich and well-paid? Sure. But genius...genius is a term reserved for those free spirits, trailblazers and rebels who were able to see beyond the veils of ignorance of their time and were, more often than not, way AHEAD their time.
They didn't fail school. School failed them.
“Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.” - Albert Einstein