I would never discourage anyone from getting a degree, it’s not all about financial gain. There is a lot to be gained and not just from the lectures. However in this country too many people go to university and study degrees that are not in demand in the real world e.g. medial studies.
Every year since I can remember there has been a report on the shortage of good graduate engineers, I believe this is the same in the US.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...eers-is-hurting-Britain-says-James-Dyson.html
The question really is do you need a degree to do this job? No, you don’t. Some of the best engineers I’ve worked with don’t have degrees. The problem is getting into a job like this without a degree when there is so much completion.
Personally, I do have a BEng in electronic engineering. However I left school at 17 and worked as a trainee technician repairing PCB’s for 4years with 1day a week studying at the local collage. After 4years I got bored, quit my job and went to university to get a degree. My first job doing this type of work was advertised as a graduate roll, so without the degree I would not be here now. But having some experience gave me a massive advantage over the other candidates.
A degree will help you get your first/second job, but experience is more important as time goes by.
Two good bits of advice I’ve received over the years are:
You don’t need to know everything, you just need to be able to work it out.
I’m retiring soon and I’m still bloody learning. (he was a great engineer)