This is a true-life step by step tale about an average guy who dropped out of high school and struck out on his own at age 17.  My sole purpose at the time was to have as much fun as possible for my remaining years. What happened after my ‘great escape’ was a rollercoaster ride with a few dismal failures and a bunch of roaring successes intermingled with lots of fun and excitement. I accidentally stumbled into an unexpected but stunning career opportunity while surfing the Southern California beaches. I needed to get educated to take full advantage of that windfall opportunity but I lacked the finances to go to college. 

The only way forward was to embark on a program of self-education while earning enough money to put food on the table. My ‘earn while you learn’ strategy resulted in many hidden benefits that exceeded my wildest expectations. How I managed to accumulate my wealth is still a bit of a mystery to me even though I’ve documented my somewhat miraculous journey in this book. I hope you’ll find my story entertaining and instructional as I share the details of my adventures.    

 Freebeedegrees is both a website and podcast series for those seeking alternatives to a 4-year college degree. I'm self-educated host Dick Kuiper and I became a multi-millionaire without a college degree. Starting at minimum wage, I became an executive of a major corporation and a wealthy entrepreneur. I created FreebeeDegrees as a forum with which to share how I became successful using my "earn while you learn" strategy. That strategy combines getting educated and earning a living to run in parallel. While this lengthens the time it takes to earn a degree, it makes your education far more effective and financially rewarding. In my case, I was making so damn much money as I was executing my strategy that I never did finish getting a degree. In all reality, I did not have to.

My new book "How I Moved from Minimum Wage to Multi-millionaire...without a College Degree" ($6.95 on amazon.com) explains exactly how I accomplished that feat. Picking up a copy of that book will be of great help in understanding my strategy. I'm not saying that to sell more books. I've priced the book so low that I'm hardly making any income from it. My main emphasis in publishing my book is to help as many people as possible deal with the struggle of making the decision of whether or not to enroll in college and determining which major to choose. I strongly recommend putting off college enrollment until you have chosen your preferred career field and then let that decision determine your educational path. Even if this means taking a gap year to figure it out, it will save untold amounts of time and money at perhaps the most critical point in your life. 

There have been far too many people that have saddled themselves with thousands of dollars of student loan debt only to end up with a degree that does very little or nothing to advance their station in life. I’d very much like to get your feedback and suggestions for moving forward with my site and podcast episodes. Email me at dick@freebeedegrees.com or call (360) 670-2914

Since my podcast will be highly interactive, I'll be broadcasting many episodes in which I interview people with stories to tell about their success with an alternative to the typical college degree or who used a non-standard path to earning a degree or equivalent and avoiding an alvalanche of student debt. Popular alternatives are things such as apprenticeships, internships, trade schools, vocational schools, military stints and things of that nature. If you have a story you'd like to share with my audience, please reach out to me at dick@freebeedegrees.com or (360) 670-2914.

Simply send me an email to dick@freebeedegrees.com, include the word "subscribe" in the title and give me your email address. These email addresses will not be shared with anyone and will be kept in strict confidence

"Kuiper understands that producing quality content is a key component of any businesses marketing and communication strategy. I have referred Dick to several close clients and they have come back with rave reviews of Dick's professionalism, performance and results. If you need any business writing done, you should let Dick put his proficient pen to your use."

     - David Kline, Sales Manager, Oregonian Media Group ghostwriter copy editing memoir

"I hired Dick to help me on a couple of projects and am completely delighted with the outcome. I feel more confident that I am portraying exactly what I want my clients to see." 

     - Nina Cammann, Customer Appreciation Manager, Direct Cellars Wine Club 

"Dick Kuiper is a walking encyclopedia! His experience as a ghostwriter is just one of his many talents. Not only is he skilled at promoting and marketing with written works, he is generous in sharing his knowledge about marketing and business.

     - Melissa Taka Kershner, Gateway Mortgage 

"Mr. Kuiper's attention to detail and amazing listening skills really show up in his work. I retained Mr. Kuiper to write a professional bio for me and when he delivered the finished product I was blown away. He takes his time and very patient throughout the process. I highly recommend Mr. Kuiper! Thank you for what you do! 

     - Kareen Mills,  Business Development Expert

" It pleases me to count Dick Kuiper as a trusted business associate. He is not only a powerful writer, but also an incredibly talented expert on techniques for attracting new customers for businesses of all kinds. The articulate writing he does for me and the help he gives me on creative ways to generate more business income are equally impressive. I can honestly recommend Dick to anyone seeking to increase their visibility in the marketplace.  

     - Daniel Waite, Sales Manager, TekCollect

"Dick is a top-notch writer. His written material is a game-changer for business owners! I recently read a short, humorous piece that Dick wrote, which was very insightful and clever but on top of that, I'm still chuckling 2 weeks later. Excellent writing. In addition to his great writing skills, he's a great colleague and makes a solid business partner. I'm proud to know Dick. 

     - Cindy Eastman, Director, Small Business Division, LegalShield