I am the first in my family to graduate college and I agree that you can become very successful without a degree by the examples I have seen from my siblings and husband. They found themselves a niche in their skills and by income levels, are more successful than I am. However, since I wanted to become a teacher, I needed a degree. Also, I always wanted to achieve the goal I had set to earn a college degree. I managed to complete college without debt by receiving grants in return for teaching in area schools, and paying out of pocket. However, it took me nearly 10 years and I dropped out twice due to financial hardships and time conflicts with work. Either way, I let most of my students know that they may find their success by going to college, or they may not. As long as they follow their dreams, they are creating their own success.