There's a lot of demand for health care professionals, and not all of them need college degrees. For example, X-ray technicians are in very high demand. The training typically takes a couple years and often is available through hospitals. One of our local hospitals has an X-ray technician training program with a tuition of only $3,000. A former neighbor of ours finished the program a couple years ago. Every one of the graduates had multiple job offers. Starting salaries in the local area are around $20 an hour.

Dental hygenists are also in demand. For some reason, few men enter the field, but that may change. This is typically a 2-3 year program. Because dental hygenists are money-makers for dentists, starting salaries in the local area are typically around $45 an hour. It's hard on your hands and back, so many of them only work 2-3 days a week.

Other careers like physical therapy and nursing require degrees (there are still a lot of nurses with associates degrees). Both are in high demand nationwide, so salaries are increasing. Only about 10% of all nurses are men, but that percentage is increasing because more men like my son are entering nursing school. Both jobs are demanding, both physically and mentally, and the long term burn-out rate is high for nurses. My wife is an OR nurse manager who just resigned her management responsibilities due to health reasons. A cardiac nurse who lives across the street just got her real estate license. Another nurse we know was just hired to do case management. She doesn't want to work with doctors any more.