That's not surprising; more and more companies and institutions like the military are requiring continuing education, since the days of a single career over a 40-year period is pretty much gone. If you're thirty years old, the chances are pretty good that the job you do now will not be the job you'll be doing when you're sixty.

Most of the people coming to work at my facility are retired US Army folks. All of the commissioned and warrant officers are college grads (with at least a bachelor's degree); and probably 75% of the retired enlisted people (E-7's and above) have their bachelor's degree as well.

Boeing's new policy is that half of all its new hires (which includes production folks) will be undergraduate level college graduates, and most jobs will require you to continue your education. Although I'm grandfathered in, any new people doing my job will need an MBA (which I don't really consider necesary, but nobody asked me).

The bottom line is that, unless you're in a trade like plumbing or HVAC or electrician -- or you have your own business -- you're going to have to get used to the idea that you'll need a college degree, sooner or later, to ensure your long-term employabiligy.