Completed: Associate's Degree in Liberal Arts Mathematics and Science, with a focus on CompSci and Biology - 3.5 GPA
Will not be completed: Bachelor's Degree in History - 7 classes taken total, 1.0 GPA semester 1, 0.0 Semester 2
A few classes taken: Associate's Degree in Business Marketing, 4.0 GPA
Soon to start: Bachelor's of Science in Business with concentration in Management Information Systems, taken online
A quick anecdote to summarize the uselessness of the above associate's degree:
I graduated high school, went to a very respectable local community college right away. Got my degree with some small difficulties, but otherwise no big deal. Went to 1.75 semesters of a business degree at my area's big college, UAlbany, and failed the fuck out. Left with my tail between my legs. Took some intermediate classes in business, but then decided to save up some money and take some time off school (in hindsight, good idea, having a full time job in this economy was worth it, even if I sell my soul every day).
New York is building up sort of a 'new Silicon Valley' for nanotech firms in the Hudson Valley area, real big thing, they're building a giant chipfab plant in Malta, NY right now - supposed to bring roughly 4,000 jobs to the area, many of them high-paying for skilled people with degrees in science and technology. My alma mater has a partnership with the firm, so graduates in certain degree programs got to attend an exclusive job fair, because the skilled positions will be training as the place comes online. I was invited because of the degree program I took, and since my job involves being screamed at by tax evaders all day long for enforcing the law, and the plant would offer a hefty raise, I jumped at the chance. Making microchips would be dull and unrewarding, but it'd pay to get me through school, right? Sat through three or four seminars, wondered what the fuck - they needed exclusive degrees in math or a concentration in physics or chemistry. I talked to one of the hiring guys about my degree program, and what it qualified me for:
"Well, sure, sure, you definitely qualify as an unskilled laborer once we get the facility up and running. Or you could go back and get a new two-year degree in chemistry, physics, or math."
I'd have to get a degree. To work someplace to afford to get a degree.