@
BlueNinjaF18,
I was first licensed to ride back in 1986 or 1987. There were no MSF courses in my area then, to get a license all you had to do was ride your bike around a row of parked cars without crashing. Now I did have dirt riding experience, and I rode Dual Sport bikes until about 1998 when I got my first street only bike. And I will say that I think dirt riding give you great foundation for riding on the street.
About 3 years ago when my youngest daughter wanted to learn to ride I signed her up for the MSF course at a local community college, it cost $150 here in VA. At the time Harley Davidson was running free rider academy for Veterans and active duty military. I took the class because I wanted to be able to reinforce what my daughter was learning. I still learned a lot in the class and am glad I took it.
So in my opinion you can teach yourself to ride and still live, but taking the MSF class is very valuable.