Having a college education helps to get a professional job however those without a college degree that possess ambition and an ability to learn quickly can build a great career for themselves. As we have seen in the high tech sector.
When I was coming of age in the late 1970s, it was a Bruce Springsteen world in my high school. People figured they would land a job down at the factory and be set for life with a steady income and a ranch home in some subdivision.
Many of the people I went to high school with are living wasted lives in grinding poverty while bitching about all the jobs that went overseas. It was all about the mindset though. Those who were willing to accept constant change and learn new skills tended to thrive over the years as our nation shifted from a manufacturing economy to a services based economy.
If you want to be a professional pilot, let’s say a fighter or bomber pilot, you’re gonna need that degree.