The average cost of a college education saw a 60% jump between 2000 and 2022 — with one year’s tuition and fees spiking to an average of nearly $15,000.
Only 22% of U.S. adults now say the cost of college is worth it even if people have to take out loans to pay for it, according to recent data from the Pew Research Center.
Naturally, many young Americans are considering alternative paths for professional success and financial security.
A new study from online lending marketplace LendingTree found that there were 5.7 million full-time, year-round workers in the U.S. without a bachelor’s degree making $100,000 or more in 2023 — totaling 9.1% of all workers who didn’t graduate with a bachelor’s.
“For the longest time, a college degree was a must-have for many jobs,” LendingTree chief consumer finance analyst Matt Schulz says. “That’s not always the case anymore, and that’s great for folks without degrees.”
LendingTree’s research, which analyzed U.S. Census Bureau 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) five-year estimates microdata, also revealed the 20 occupations that are most likely to pay six-figure salaries without requiring college degrees.
Chief executives and legislators ranked first for occupations with the highest percentage of workers without a bachelor’s degree earning six figures, at 63.6%, according to the data.
Architectural and engineering managers (60.9%), software developers (56.5%), sales engineers (56.1%), and computer and information systems managers (53.9%) rounded out the top five, per the study.
Check out the 20 best-paying occupations where at least 40% of workers without a bachelor’s earn six figures, according to LendingTree’s analysis:
-
Chief executives and legislators
-
Architectural and engineering managers
-
Software developers
-
Sales engineers
-
Computer and information systems managers
-
Power plant operators, distributors and dispatchers
-
Elevator installers and repairers
-
Computer network architects
-
Computer hardware engineers
-
First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers
-
Information security analysts
-
Petroleum, mining and geological engineers
-
Locomotive engineers and operators
-
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers
-
Aerospace engineers
-
Electrical power-line installers and repairers
-
Air traffic controllers and airfield operations specialists
-
Sales managers
-
Nuclear medicine technologists and medical dosimetrists
-
Other engineers
