In the United States, adults who have a college degree make more money and face lower unemployment rates than those who don't, according to federal government Labor Department data. But there are exceptions to every rule.

Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson and John Paul DeJoria are all self-made billionaire entrepreneurs who either dropped out of college or skipped higher ed entirely.

The legendary Apple CEO attended Reed College in Portland, Ore., for one semester before dropping out because he didn't have any money, he says in a graduation speech he delivered in 1991. He enrolled for another year and a half of coursework later on, he says.

Zuckerberg and Gates both dropped out of Harvard when their respective tech companies, Facebook and Microsoft, started taking off.