Yeah, well, some of us weren't so lucky. Or maybe it was the field I had chosen, but it wasn't about the money. My first "career" job in counseling only paid $19.5k/year (about 1990) to start, but it was probably the best job I ever had (again, not monetarily). Of course after a career change some years later (unrelated to my college major) income more than tripled for a while. So I don't think it's necessary to have a college degree. At least not if you're smart enough to teach yourself.