25 Highest Paying Jobs -- No Bachelor's Degree Required

Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer

What do Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and entertainment mogul David Geffen have in common? Huge bank accounts and no student loans. These industry leaders are some of the most successful people in business and none of them has a college degree.

The belief that you need a college education to have a well-paying and rewarding job is quickly fading. A four-year degree definitely has its benefits in the business world, but it's not the only path to a successful career.

In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), eight of the 10 fastest-growing occupations through 2014 don't require a bachelor's degree. And these jobs, which include health technology, plumbing, firefighting and automotive repair, are less vulnerable to outsourcing. After all, if a fire breaks out, you need the fire department to be a few blocks away, not halfway around the world.

While the educational requirements for many good jobs have risen, many occupations still don't require a four-year degree. Several of these positions require vocational training or an associate degree. All of them require some on-the-job training or an apprenticeship.

Here are 25 of the top-paying jobs that don't require a four-year degree and their average salaries, based on data from the BLS and CBSalary.com.

1. Air traffic controller: $102,030

For some of these occupations, the highest earners in the field make a significantly higher amount than the national average. For example, the top funeral directors can make $225,500. Some non-retail sales representatives can earn as much as $114,540, nearly double the national average. Operations managers, who already rank highly on the list, can make $132,537. As with any occupations, location factors heavily into how much you earn. (For example, major metropolitan areas will probably pay more than smaller towns.)

"The thing to keep in mind is that there are something like 50 million jobs out there that don't require a bachelor's degree and pay upwards of $40,000 a year," says Harlow Unger, author of "But What If I Don't Want to Go to College? A Guide to Success Through Alternative Education."

He goes on to say that according to the U.S. Department of Labor, by 2010, almost two-thirds of all projected job openings will require only on-the-job training.

So while a college degree was de rigueur for the Baby Boom generation, that's not necessarily the case now. In today's highly technical and service-related market, workers are judged more on their skills than their sheepskins.

Next: Top 10 Companies Hiring This Week >>

Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

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