A lot of people who have posted on this thread are incredibly pretentious and out of touch with reality. You do not need to be a graduate in a specific field to be successful and earn a high amount. That's just telling people that unless you do this, this and that then you're not going to achieve anything in life.
A degree is absolutely no substitute for hard work and determination. My older brother left school at 16. Joined the marines. Came back to the UK aged 23. Worked six 16 hour days a week for 3 years. Then when he had money bought a gym.. bought a restaurant, bought and rented out student accommodation and now at 31, rakes in over £250k after tax a year. All of that with a handful of GCSE's and a serious work ethic.
My point is, not everyone is in a position where they can go to university. Hell, not everyone is intelligent enough to get degrees in biochemistry, medicine and maths (myself included). But that does not mean that they cannot be successful.