No, there are other alternatives, like going into a trade. For instance welding and plumbing are well paying jobs in the U.S, but we lack the people who want to do them, because everyone is convinced you have to go to collage or you wont make it in life. The result is tons of young people with degrees for jobs they can’t get working at fast food joints and grocery stores, when they could have gone into a trade and be making 80k a year.
I don’t believe there is a correlation between a collage education and wealth ( at least not anymore). People who don’t go to collage and instead go into a trade on average end up making far more money, and don’t end up with debt.
Collages in the U.S have also generally become a breeding ground for ignorance and SJWs, so i would argue that a modern collage education in the U.S could even be harmful.