Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer

To continue school or not continue school? That is the question for many high school graduates.

Although college can improve your career opportunities and increase your lifetime earnings, it also takes four years (or more) of your life and a lot of money. Plus, few majors can guarantee a financial return that will offset the financial debt many students will accumulate during college.

Two-year degrees, of which an associate degree is the most common, provide training and education for a variety of fields in approximately half the time as a bachelor's degree. Plus, you can earn an associate degree from a local community college for a fraction of the cost of a four-year degree at a university. Also, for most areas of study, an associate degree puts you halfway toward a four-year degree should you decide to pursue later.

Dr. Al Lee. Ph.D, Director of Quantitative Analysis

Billionaire media mogul David Geffen went from high school graduate to talent agent assistant, talent agent, owner of two record companies (Asylum and Geffen Records), and later, to co-founding DreamWorks movie studio with fellow non-college attendee Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Steven Spielberg, who dropped out of college.

While Geffen, Katzenberg and Spielberg are exceptions, there are options for young people who choose to skip college.

One career choice would be working for United Parcel Post, UPS. If you enjoy driving, sitting and light lifting, UPS drivers' salaries are typically are $27.34 an hour, per the UPS Web site at pressroom.ups.com, which also states, "UPS drivers (and part-time employees) receive full health benefits including medical, dental and eye care."

By Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com

Going to an Ivy League college is part of the American dream. But does a degree from Harvard mean a better job and better pay? Experts disagree.