{"id":15493,"date":"2026-07-10T03:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T03:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=15493"},"modified":"2026-07-10T03:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T03:46:12","slug":"young-americans-skip-college-for-no-degree-jobs-paying-100k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=15493","title":{"rendered":"Young Americans Skip College for No-Degree Jobs Paying $100K+"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"tw:border-b tw:border-slate-200 tw:pb-4\">\n<h2 class=\"tw:mt-0 tw:mb-1 tw:text-2xl tw:font-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"tw:font-normal tw:font-serif tw:text-base tw:marker:text-slate-400\">\n<li>New college graduates are struggling in the worst entry-level job market in years. <\/li>\n<li>Here are the no-degree-required roles that pay the most, per a new study from NetCredit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>For some young people in the U.S., higher education is losing its luster.<\/p>\n<p>New college graduates are currently facing the worst entry-level job market since the pandemic, per <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/12\/college-graduates-job-market-ai\"><em>The Guardian<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, the average tuition for both public and private four-year colleges has essentially doubled over the past 30 years when adjusted for inflation, NPR <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2025\/11\/20\/nx-s1-5600854\/college-costs-have-risen-dramatically-in-the-last-20-years-heres-why\">reported last year<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Undergraduate enrollment was 15% lower in fall 2021 than in fall 2010, with 42% of the dropoff taking place amid the pandemic, according to the <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/fastfacts\/display.asp?id=98\">National Center for Education Statistics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>High school graduates who plan to join the workforce right away might wonder which no-degree-required roles pay the most.<\/p>\n<p>Online lender <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/highest-paying-jobs-without-a-degree\/\">NetCredit<\/a>\u2019s new study, which examined occupations that don\u2019t require a degree (per the BLS Occupational Handbook) and the average yearly salary for each role, reveals the highest-paying job options in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The top seven no-degree roles boast national average salaries ranging from $102,482 (gambling managers) to $122,824 (nuclear power reactor operators).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Transportation, storage and distribution managers, with an average wage of $116,022, and police sergeants and captains, with an average wage of $110,989, rounded out the top three best-paying occupations that don\u2019t require a college degree.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read on to see all of NetCredit\u2019s no-degree, six-figure jobs, along with 18 others that offer national average wages starting at about $85,000:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image Credit: NetCredit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"tw:border-b tw:border-slate-200 tw:pb-4\">\n<h2 class=\"tw:mt-0 tw:mb-1 tw:text-2xl tw:font-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"tw:font-normal tw:font-serif tw:text-base tw:marker:text-slate-400\">\n<li>New college graduates are struggling in the worst entry-level job market in years. <\/li>\n<li>Here are the no-degree-required roles that pay the most, per a new study from NetCredit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>For some young people in the U.S., higher education is losing its luster.<\/p>\n<p>New college graduates are currently facing the worst entry-level job market since the pandemic, per <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/12\/college-graduates-job-market-ai\"><em>The Guardian<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, the average tuition for both public and private four-year colleges has essentially doubled over the past 30 years when adjusted for inflation, NPR <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2025\/11\/20\/nx-s1-5600854\/college-costs-have-risen-dramatically-in-the-last-20-years-heres-why\">reported last year<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Undergraduate enrollment was 15% lower in fall 2021 than in fall 2010, with 42% of the dropoff taking place amid the pandemic, according to the <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/fastfacts\/display.asp?id=98\">National Center for Education Statistics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>High school graduates who plan to join the workforce right away might wonder which no-degree-required roles pay the most.<\/p>\n<p>Online lender <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/highest-paying-jobs-without-a-degree\/\">NetCredit<\/a>\u2019s new study, which examined occupations that don\u2019t require a degree (per the BLS Occupational Handbook) and the average yearly salary for each role, reveals the highest-paying job options in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The top seven no-degree roles boast national average salaries ranging from $102,482 (gambling managers) to $122,824 (nuclear power reactor operators).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Transportation, storage and distribution managers, with an average wage of $116,022, and police sergeants and captains, with an average wage of $110,989, rounded out the top three best-paying occupations that don\u2019t require a college degree.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read on to see all of NetCredit\u2019s no-degree, six-figure jobs, along with 18 others that offer national average wages starting at about $85,000:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"1024\" width=\"614\" src=\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/01_The-Best-Paid-Jobs-That-Dont-Require-a-Degree.png?w=614\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-439654\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/01_The-Best-Paid-Jobs-That-Dont-Require-a-Degree.png 2400w, https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/01_The-Best-Paid-Jobs-That-Dont-Require-a-Degree.png?resize=180,300 180w, https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/01_The-Best-Paid-Jobs-That-Dont-Require-a-Degree.png?resize=768,1282 768w, https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/01_The-Best-Paid-Jobs-That-Dont-Require-a-Degree.png?resize=614,1024 614w, https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/01_The-Best-Paid-Jobs-That-Dont-Require-a-Degree.png?resize=920,1536 920w, https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/01_The-Best-Paid-Jobs-That-Dont-Require-a-Degree.png?resize=1227,2048 1227w, https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/01_The-Best-Paid-Jobs-That-Dont-Require-a-Degree.png?resize=135,225 135w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image Credit: NetCredit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/business-news\/americans-are-skipping-college-for-no-degree-jobs-that-pay-more-than-100000-a-year\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways New college graduates are struggling in the worst entry-level job market in years. Here are the no-degree-required roles that pay the most, per a new study from NetCredit. For some young people in the U.S., higher education is losing its luster. New college graduates are currently facing the worst entry-level job market since<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-green-brands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}