“Stay in school,” is often touted as the best advice for young people, but no one ever specified for how long. Out of the top 15 fastest growing jobs for 2006-2016, 10 do not require a college degree, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

At Express Employment Professionals, the nation’s fifth-largest staffing company, 350,000 employees are placed in jobs in 35,000 companies in the U.S. each year, and only 12% of employees placed have a four-year college degree, according to spokesperson Sean Simpson. A majority of 42% have a high school diploma, some high school education or a GED. Thirty-three percent of employees placed have some college, while the remaining 13% have either an associate’s degree or a graduate degree. Jobs filled include everything from warehouse stocking positions to management and executive roles. According to the American Staffing Association, the average contract employee earns about $12 an hour.

“Really, there are few jobs that require a bachelor’s degree,” said Simpson. “Most of the time people are looking for combination of experience and education--but experience is what employers are really looking for.”

For most of Express Employment’s clients, a high school diploma is sufficient--and for those clients who do request a staffer with higher education, they also want someone who has the right skill set, Simpson said. “A degree is one thing, but if you don’t have the right skill set to match up, they don’t want you,” he said.

In certain fields, like technology, a degree won’t necessarily help you earn more, according to Matt Colarusso, spokesperson for Sapphire Technologies, a technology staffing company headquartered in Woburn, Mass.

“Technical positions are very specific, and because what you’re doing is so specialized, you don’t need to have gone to a four-year school,” said Colarusso, who added that technical training schools that offer certifications in technological skills are a great place to get a start without enrolling full-time as a student at a university.

Colarusso said that while individuals who develop software systems often possess four-year university degrees, the people who support and maintain the systems rarely have such degrees. Because the technology industry is constantly changing, it is often preferred that employees have many certifications in different tech platforms rather than a full four-year degree in one specialization. Colarusso said that his clients typically value experience over education.

“If their resume tells a story, and our clients like the vertical market they are coming from or their industry experience, that always plays a larger role than whether or not they have the right degree,” he said.

It’s often the “soft skills” that carry a prospective employee through to the next level, according to Tracy Lynch, a spokesperson for Sapphire. It often comes down to who has the best communication skills, who can speak clearly and present their ideas well, she said. She cited $71,000 as an annual salary figure that a computer specialist can earn with a two-year associate's degree.

At Sapphire in 2007, 34% of all contract labor jobs filled did not require a four year degree, and it’s shaping up the same way for 2008, according to Colarusso. Of course, this means that a majority-- 66%-- of jobs filled at Sapphire did require a college degree.

Although individuals may find a job without a college degree, earning power increases with education, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. According to population surveys from 2000, a full-time worker aged 25 to 64 earned an average of $30,400 per year with just a high school diploma. With a bachelor’s degree, that person earned $52,200--almost doubling earning power.

Peggy Wireman, author ofConnecting the Dots: Government, Community and Family, said that 50% of all new jobs created in the next 10 years will be in just 28 occupations, and of those 28 occupations, only five will require a college degree. This is good news for individuals who don’t want a degree, but bad news for those who’d like to make enough money to support a family, according to Wireman.

Of the 28 occupations she examined, none of them supported a family of four above the “self-sufficiency” level, which is twice the poverty level or higher. Eight of the jobs would not support a family of four even at a poverty level; 11 would support a family at the poverty level.

“This tells us that you don’t have any chance of getting a well-paying job unless you have a college degree,” Wireman said. “Across the board, there are jobs that do pay well without a college degree, but in terms of where the new jobs are going to be, you need to be in one of the categories that require a college education.”

And although a degree may not be necessary for the job to which you’re applying, a degree is more important than ever in today’s economic climate, according to Dr. Lester Lefton, President of Kent State University.

“I know people with college degrees are applying for secretarial positions, and people with high school degrees are going to get shut out when going for those positions, Lefton said. As the American job market grows more competitive, it’s the people who are better trained that will make the cut for the jobs that offer the best health benefits and working environment, Lefton said.

Top 10 fastest-growing jobs that do not require a college degree:

1. Network systems and data communication analyst

2. Personal and home care aide

3. Home health nursing and psychiatric aide

4. Veterinary assistant

5. Makeup artist

6. Medical assistant

7. Substance abuse and disorder counselor

8. Social and human service assistant

9. Gaming surveillance officer and gaming investigator

10. Physical therapist assistant