The same situation here in Italy. Some years ago (when I was young) the post secondary school was almost a guarantee for a good job, but in the last years it's not the same. Many young people with a an high level of education are not employed or they are working in manual job where his education is irrelevant. Here we have the issues that the new graduates are more than the jobs available and just some of them became self employes/entrepreneur. As you wrote (and I know many people who can be a good example) "college isn't a necessary ingredient to achieving success."