think, not a time to learn “what” to think.
I’ll analogize to law school. In law school, sure you learn some stuff about common law rules, and the UCC, etc. You learn what the laws say.
But far more importantly, you learn how to think like a lawyer. And the way you do that is by exploring ideas and challenging assumptions.
Many people think of undergrad the same way. It doesn’t just have to be a trade school. It can be a time to really expand your thinking and learn how to think differently.
If all you want is to learn math, that’s fine. And academic freedom probably won’t be relevant. But if you are interested in learning new ways to think, exploring new and controversial ideas, challenging assumptions, etc, academic freedom matters a lot.