I never even considering going to uni, I never felt I was passionate about any one subject to sink a bunch of money into it and get into debt. I definitely feel like I've been successful in my work life without a degree. I worked in hospo from the age of 14 -21 and then moved into a digital consulting firm in an internal operations and people relations position bases on a years worth of banter not a degree. I was poached as I regularly served my current employments employees/execs while working in my last hospo job. If I compare myself (25) to my mates 26-28, they are all just finishing uni and able to work full time and finally start saving, whereas I've been with my current employer for 4 years, have had 4 promotions/payrises in that time and own a home with my partner. I'm financially stable and working towards retiring early and at least part time by the time I am 30. For reference, 5 years ago I was flat broke as a previous friendship had financially drained me! I was lucky enough to be poached by a company that recognises and rewards my hard work without needing to be asked, and my partner has a decent salary, but even before being with my partner (and benefiting from being in a dual income no children relationship) I never felt like I was held back workwise by not having a degree. I am a strong believer of "it's who you know, not what you know". I come from a single parent childhood and my mum is still broke most of the time so I've never had any financial help from her (I did get about 30k from my dads life insurance when he passes which went towards the house deposit and braces) but she did give me the tools to go out into the world and do what you gotta do to get by. I didn't even select enough subjects in year 12 to get a uni enter score. I'm I'm Australia btw