How to get a white-collar job without a degree

University enrolments are declining as more high-school leavers like Tony Nguyen skip campus and head straight to the workforce.

Tony Nguyen, is a final-year trainee at KPMG. Dominic Lorrimer

Euan BlackWork and careers reporter

Sep 6, 2024 – 1.43pm

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When Tony Nguyen was trying to decide what to do after finishing school, he kept hearing stories that made him think twice about applying to university.

Older classmates told him they “regretted their choices and couldn’t find a job [in the area] they went to uni for”, says Nguyen, now 20. “Now they have a HECS debt and a uni degree that they can’t use for their current job.”