Here in Australia, tradespeople- plumbers, electricians etc- earn more than most university graduates. I live (rent) in a wealthy, riverside suburb, and the few neighbours I know do not have degrees...the one over the back, with a riverfront property, is a builder. Builders and anyone contracted to the building industry here in my city, have more work than they can handle and long waiting lists. Calling a plumber out can be a joke..they can virtually charge what they like, they have so much work. There is a mining boom happening in my state. Its hard for local businesses to get enough checkout chicks, shop assistants, because all the young people have gone up north to make thousands a week, working really hard, in the mining industry. They can buy a house in a couple of years. Another neighbour built his own IT company, and another just has both parents working- one as a waitress is a flash hotel, the other a surf lifesaver! These wealthy suburbs are not full of university graduates, in my experience.
My dad earned an average income as an astronomer with a job as a university lecturer, getting paid to do research as well. My mum, however, much to my dad's unhappiness, earned more money than him, running a business from home which employed other housewives in the area, working from their homes. We were well off not because of my dad's income, but because of my mum's.
I have read several articles in the newspaper saying getting a degree is now just about necessary for anything...however, it doesn't guarantee any sort of a decent job. My marine biologist cousin works as an orderly in a hospital.
A 17yo homeschooler I know has to get a highschool diploma to do his auto electrician's apprenticeship, which up till a couple of years ago was never necessary..and it leaves non academic kids in a difficult position. Because apprenticeships are so sought after, its hard to get one....if you do, you are lucky, because the work may be mundane to many, but gee you can make a good buck.
It's all silly. I still think entrepreneurial skills are the most valuable...the ability to see an opportunity and grab it, to think outside the box...and Bill Gates has that kind of mind, as do many other mega wealthy people. They see opportunities others simply don't conceive. That's why they can appear to poo poo university degrees. People identify so much with their career, and it can be a limiting way to think...I am this or that, therefore this or that is what I do, and how I will earn money. Train track thinking. Great if it's your passion, and you are not too fussed about the income, but not so good if you were led to believe it was going to mean a fulfilling and successful life.
Many people I know, including my mother, went to university as mature age students simply because they wanted an education....not a career.My mother never used her degree, which she got when she was my age, 40. Mature aged entry is a big thing around here.
Of course, much of what I am saying might be location specific. I suspect college in the U.S. isn't quite what university is here...more like a step between highschool and university. It may be even more necessary there than here.
I think my point is, the degree doesn't guarantee anything...thinking for yourself and following your passion, not getting stuck in train track thinking, are more guarantees of having a fulfilling life than a college degree alone. Then again if you equate being successful in the eyes of society as personal success, best you go get a degree because it will give you more status.