I gave up my job as an industrial electrician last august to go along the uni route for accounting. I had been working for the same company for 6 years, 3 were apprenticeship, and had the carrot dangled many times with promises of HNC's and other electrical qualifications, but they never seemed to happen. I was earning good money, 35K and had a company van, but worked 60 plus hours every week and would most likely have been in the same position in ten years time, much like many of my colleagues were.
So I think this route will be beneficial in the long run, even if the money takes along time to get back to what it was, at least I'm not slogging my guts out, lining somebody elses pockets.