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I think that if you want to be an audio engineer that wants to go to work at Dolby Labs or a similar employer designing gear or applications then a program like Peabody is the place. However, if your goal is to end up recording, mixing or producing pop music or doing audio post then you are better off going to a program like an SAE or IAR for a year. These degrees if completed are just as meaningful as if you went to study with Bob Power at Clive Davis.
Keep in mind a couple of things, The Chris Lord Alge and Bob Clearmountains did not go to audio engineering school. The guy who first pushed all the buttons in on an 1176 prob didn't either! Also, the music business has changed so radically with so many studios closing that traditional engineering jobs are rare and the entire economic structure has been changed. For years, we also had an old saw in the business that if you were a Berekely Grad you were bound to be horrible because anyone with talent never graduated.
More important than what school you go to is how you perform. Any of these places from an SAE to Berkley to Peabody will get you in the doors for a free interning gig. What makes the difference is how well you fit in, adapt, and can take initiative without crossing a very blurry line. That's what will get you hired.
I offer this advice up as real world and cautionary. Spending money on a liberal arts degree at a college may not lead to a job but it does develop you as a person. Not sure that a 4 year program in audio engineering does the same thing.
Creative taste or ears is also something that you can't teach. You either get it or you don't.
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