Tech is just an overall outlier since the demand is so high in that field that employers are willing to hire people who just have the skills to do the job. In more traditional career paths, like engineering, a college degree is absolutely required to even be considered for the position. No degree = no interview. Lots of other professional careers are like this as well like accounting.
As a whole nearly 50% of all people in SV have a B.S. or higher and over 70% have some college experience; it's the third most educated place in the country.
