It depends on how far you want to go and in which sector you want to work in. You need at the very least an engineer's license from the state to hold a position anywhere in the field, which is not something you can obtain through a school. You have to work under someone who is willing to sponsor you under their own state-issued license, which basically means you have to be hand selected by someone willing to take the risk. There are less than 600 people in my state who hold the same job title as I do, and less than 24,000 total in the United States. There are only 6,000 people total in the United States who hold the Nuclear Power Reactor Operator job title, which is the next step in my plan.
You don't have to hold a 4 year degree or spend the kind of money a doctor spends on schooling, but most of the guys I work with are either navy vets who served on nuclear submarines, have 2+ years of college level physics & engineering-related classes (thermodynamics especially) with several years of previous electrical/power engineering experience or both.
