Compensation without a degree...
 

how many make over $100K?
You sheepskin folks can chime in anyway

I do pretty well. I'm a network engineer.

I have always thought that if I had to do it over knowing what I know now, I would possibly skip college / MBA and sell real estate. Of course, I am good at sales. On the flip side, I sure had a great time in college!

Larry

My youngest never wanted to go to college. He's 26 as of next Monday. He's in commercial lending and will make 150k this year prooving the old man wrong

Bill Gates

Michael Dell....

In a technical field the degree will generally make you more money and more importantly, you will be able to change jobs easily while keeping your pay. Someone without a college degree that's learned on the job in a single company will have a hard time to keep their salary when they change jobs.

Of course you can now find all the exceptions to the rule! The media love to publish that crap. Don't be fooled though, for every successful college drop out there is likely a thousand that are flipping burgers.

G

+1000

A lot depends on your field, and your location.
I have two degrees and make < $100k.
But then again, I love my job. There is value in that.

I wasted 5 years in college.

If you consider that I would have made even 50k a year between 1985 and 1990, thats 250K down the drain.

If you figure that I spent 15k a year, in tuition, books and beer, then thats another 75k.

If you assume that I would have started buying residential apartment buildings in the late 80's instead of the mid 90's.... nevermind. I'm going to go kill myself.

College was fun and I'm proud to be a Bearcat, but my worthless political science college education probably cost me a million dollars...

I did YEAR AND 1/2 @ a community collage, make about 180K a year as a Diamond Drill foreman, have about 5 months off a year - thats sounds like a lot but it isn't if you add weekends and annual holidays, I work away from home, overseas and put in about 90 hours a week and have to go to the remotest places on earth, I could make more if I worked more but there is a limit even for me. Best thing is I love my job - 34 years now & 22 different countries, typing this from Guyana, in the jungle, about 150 miles from the coast at the escarpment of the Pakarimia mountains, killed 2 snakes and saw a 300++ pound lepard with in the last week, I need a raise.

I don't mean to single you out, but this story is too common.

First, would you have had the money to buy all those homes as investments when you were 18 yrs old? If not, then you really didn't have the opportunity to make millions.

2nd- Were you assured a $50K/yr job at 18 yrs old? If not, then college was the right decision.

Finally, why did you choose poli-sci? Were you going to gen a law degree after? How was a poli-sci degree going to make you $50k/per year back then? This is the big problem with college and what kids and their parents don't realize.

You are not guaranteed a job after college. It was never like that,meven in the 80s. Chosing a "useless" degree and wasting 4-5 years of tuition and time was not the fault of the colleges...it was the student's and the parent's fault. Some parents are tickled silly over the thought of their child going to college, but don't about think nor appreciate the bigger picture...

Basically, if you don't have a career plan before college and you chose a degree that can't be marketed and will not be in demand in 4-5 yrs, rethink college.

I did...
Now I teach.
So now I don't.....

I did not finish college and I do not make over 100k I hate my job and the company I work for sucks. I am making moves to better myself though. One of which is starting a business.

I think there is a lot of value in liking what you do.

i have a 5 yr engineering degree, yes, in canada they use to be five yrs, i yr of general science and 4 of applied science. have a masters in engineering which i got after starting with the second largest aerospace company in the world. job wise, i make over 6 figures but as far as satisfaction, i don't enjoy my job that much. i think these days you pretty well need a college education to get anywhere. there isn't the grandfather clauses of yester years or on the job training. as some have mentioned, there are exceptions to the rule, but they aren't as common.

Barely. Depending on the exchange rate..

Graduated from HS in 1982
US Army Military Police 1982-1985

Job Offer from Los Angeles PD in late 1985 (easy 50k per year in late 80's). Went home to Cincy instead. U of Cincinnati 1985 till 1990. Your right, should have attended business school instead of liberal arts. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid...Graduated 1990

Drove 914 2.0 back to SoCal in 1990 for Cop-Job.

Immediately started working lots of overtime and saving money...bought first house in 1991. Married a RE agent. She became a RE Broker. Started Property Mgmt Company...

I wasted 5 years in college.

I've often wondered if I needed to get a degree. No one has ever asked if I had a degree for any job, let alone asking for a transcipts or a GPA.

I think there is more than what we are all mentioning about the positive effects of college. I definitely learned skills that apply on a daily basis as a business owner. Figuring out more than one way to accomplish goals was a skill learned in college. People skills were learned, dealing with all of these leftist professors. And a technical writing class has proven invaluable, as I have written every training/technical manual for my company.

It's not necessarily the "degree", it's how you got the degree while you were there. And yes, I had a great time in college to boot!

my old roomate never got a degree. she started at the bottom cleaning cages at the local humane society. she is now president of a SPCA pulling in big bucks. her hubby didnt graduate either. they just bought their second bay area home. this time in MARIN.

his brother graduated from a great college. as of last week, he is about $20 bucks from getting evicted. i bet he starts selling drugs soon :(