There are many paradoxes when it comes to higher education. You have to pay great sums of money to get a piece of paper that gives you a chance at higher earnings. It's not a guarantee; I know people with college degrees who sell hamburgers at national chains. Frequently the paper is only a qualification rather than a key, a bare minimum box young folks must check off in order to move forward.
I think you should get a college degree if you can. Even if it doesn't come attached to a guaranteed job at graduation, it at least gives you options. I have sat on selection committees and turned away folks for jobs who don't have a degree, particularly if they didn't take any courses in Life Science. Six years ago, I was driving a forklift in a warehouse; my coworkers envied me because they knew because of my degree I had options and could leave at any time for better prospects.
My sister however has not been so lucky. With one semester to go in graduate school, she finally has her first job that is not as a life guard in a pool. One of my biggest gripes is that the schools are rarely if ever paired with partnerships in industry so that they turn the students loose on their own after graduating. Then ironically, they will pat themselves on the back later when their alumni do well when it is frequently in spite of the school rather than because of it.
I know a gentleman named Tim whose alma mater claims credit for his entrepreneurial successes. What they don't tell you is that Tim never graduated. He was drafted into the Vietnam War and never returned. Yet, at least twice, they have sent him letters or surveys asking him to provide feedback about how his college experience contributed to his success in life. It didn't really. He owns a business selling pumps and pumping equipment, and his degree was in history.
Higher education unjustly ascribes itself credit for your success in other ways. After they exact $100,000 from you in tuition, they contact you after graduation soliciting further donations. I don't figure I owe them a thing. I paid them money, paid the price, and they gave me a piece of paper. It took me four more years after that to get a job in my field, and it pays less than I would make if I'd stayed with UPS and become a FT delivery driver. Fortunately for me, my alma mater has NEVER contacted me for a donation.
Universities, like Shylock, always get their pound of flesh. My sister paid out of state fees until she had 40 credits, and she needs only 52 to graduate. Very shrewd. They add fees for everything, including faculty parking at my alma mater. Between my first and second years, they raised the dorm rates 35% and the cafeteria fees 25% while decreasing access by 20%. They changed books frequently, raised tuition incessantly, and all the while we received less for our money. My students are paying more than I did in graduate school, and that was 10 years ago!
Higher education CAN be valuable. My paternal grandfather died last year six credits shy of his BA. My paternal grandmother graduated many years earlier but never applied it outside the home. My alma mater was staffed at the time with professors who were willing to invest in me because they saw me invest in myself. In the end, you get what you pay for, but it's about more than money. Like I tell my students, you will get out of it what you put into it, and the price you are willing to pay will determine the value you exact from the educators you hire.
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