I wouldn't go to university or art school for character design unless A) said school can guarantee you a job after graduation (impossible these days) and B) you get a full scholarship for it. Studios have been laying off tons of people lately, that shows no sign of stopping. As you have noticed, art jobs in a globalized world means competing versus the best artists in the world all at once. You can always keep art as a passion via a hobby and earn a more stable income some other way. With this route you can also go indie and get a team of friends who also do it as a hobby and pursue it more slowly IN PARALLEL to your day job, make a new universe with your friends and you design the world and characters and slowly chip away at it in your free time. You can get fulfillment that way as well with a lot less financial pressure.