Bjkeates, You hit the nail on the head with your above post in every respect.
I live in South Africa, a country where you are more likely to find a crop spraying job, glider towing job or skydiver shoving job than most places in the world. These jobs even here are not easy to get hold of and to assume that you will have a 'wonderful life' building hours bit by bit is simply totally untrue. I have many friends who have slogged their guts out in African countries such as the DRC, Sudan etc in dangerous conditions and it is great for the first month but after that it is extremely tiring. This kind of lifeless flying can go on for years and years before a stable airline job comes along.
I agree with dragonfly6 that it is the individuals decision to make up their minds whether they want to go to uni or not. I do think that people who have the opportunity to go to uni should consider the reasons why they want to go to uni and not just go for the sake of it. The advantages of a degree cannot be understated however. The consideration of licence loss due to medical problems is a real threat as well as the fact that a relevant degree can certainly give some juice to a CV and help the individual if he/she wants to pursue a job on the side of flying.